Jul 3, 2011 by Sara
So Friday night I went to dinner with friends and our kids. Alex was working late so I went solo.
After a relaxing greasy feast of Mexican specialties, including a house margarita, the kids started to get antsy in the 95F heat. (We were out on the patio).
They asked if they could check out the fountain, one table away, behind a young couple’s table. The margarita in me persuaded my otherwise strict self to conceed and the kids wandered over to check out the scene.
Immediately I saw that we’d made a mistake.
Clearly the young woman was irritated by the presence of three kids at her table and her date, who was busy on his cell phone, was even less enthused by his new visitors.
The table was out of earshot, but we watched, as the bo-hunk paused his cell phone conversation to say something to the kids. Whatever it was he said, they froze, confused. I saw Anna mouth the words: “What?” And he repeated it.
From the couple’s body language we knew it was imperative that we call the kids back, which we did with a sense of urgency.
The kids complied.
Five minutes later, my friend asked me: “Did you hear what that a**hole said?”
“No. What?”
“Get out of here or I’m going to pour hot sauce on your eyeballs.”
“He said what?! WHAT???”
Some time had passed and as I sat there, my blood started to boil.
I glared at this Neanderthal and his cheesy girlfriend. I glared and tried to burn holes into the couple’s foreheads. I was so pissed I didn’t know what to do.
WHO TALKS TO CHILDREN LIKE THAT???
Yes, we should not have let them interrupt their meal. That was bad. OUR BAD. Not the kids.
I’m not one for scenes, but sometimes with a little liquid courage I might make one.
But the kids were there and it just didn’t seem appropriate. After all, I felt partly responsible for condoning the excusion in the first place.
So I continued my glare as we paid the check and I exchanged obnoxious glances with him as we walked out. Only AFTER warning the patrons who were waiting for our table to steer clear of the unfriendly couple by the fountain, in a loud enough voice that I thought would carry. (It was the least we could do).
So what would you have done? Raise hell in front of your kids?
Ignore it ?
Maybe I should have done this?
