Tuesday, September 4, 2012

Potty Training in a Restaurant? Hell, no!

How low can a parent go when it comes to that parent thinking the world revolves around their child? According to a photo making its way around the Internet, pretty damn low. It happened at a restaurant in Lehi, Utah. A diner noticed a pair of twin girls sitting at the table across from her and the two girls had their jumpsuits down around their ankles. Upon closer inspection, it was determined that these girls were not sitting at booster seats like the average two year old, but were actually sitting on child port-a-potties. Yes folks, we may have found the Entitled Parent of the Year. Thanks to customer Kimberly Decker, we have photographic proof of the moment when manners were deemed no longer something of importance and a woman thought it was perfectly alright to let her kids take a dump while sitting naked in a dining room chowing down on chicken fingers. It truly may be the end of the world as we know it. All together now: what the fuckity fuck hell is wrong with people?






I have seen parents let their kid throw food all over the place. I have seen parents let their children scribble on walls. I have even seen parents change a diaper at the table and then leave it in a tiny poopy ball on their plate next to the pickle spear they didn't want. I have never seen someone think it's acceptable to teach potty training between the entree and dessert.

I have had some experience with potty training. I took care a of a little girl for one full year and during that time potty training was an important part of our day. It's not easy trying to get the kid to go to the toilet instead of just letting it all out right there in the comfort of their own diaper. Personally, I resent the day my parents taught me that it was better to go poopy in the toilet. I look forward to reaching an an age where Depends is on my grocery list right next to milk and bread and I can go while watching Wheel of Fortune instead of being bothered to walk all the way to the bathroom to pull my pants down. When I was taking care of Lily, one time she was at the top of the slide and I saw her squat down.

"Lily, do you need to go to the bathroom?"

"No," she grunts.

"Are you sure? Because it looks like you might need to go to a bathroom."

Her eyes squeezed shut and her tiny little brow furrowed, she again says, "No." Another grunt follows.

"I dunno, sweetie, I think you need to go to the bathroom."

"Stop looking at me!" she screams. All this while atop of the slide in the park surrounded by people watching her. Two minutes later, she stands up and announces 'I went potty!"

So, yes, I get that potty training is not easy. But you don't take your kids to a restaurant and plop their little bare asses onto a port-a-potty and then order lunch. What was this mother thinking? I also want to know what her plan was for removing the two port-a-potties once they were filled. Did she think she would just ask her server for a doggie bag and then also for him to run them through the dishwasher? Or maybe she would have taken them to the bathroom and rinsed them out in the sink next to the lady who is reapplying her lipstick. Or perhaps she would just throw them in her trunk and carry them back home. More than likely, she hadn't thought that far in advance because she clearly is an addle-brained moron with shit for brains.

The restaurant says they were not aware of the incident until after it happened or they most certainly would have asked them to leave. But didn't the server see what was going on? Why didn't he say something? You can bet your freshly Baby Wiped bottom dollar that my bitchy ass would have piped in:

Hello, I'm Bitchy and I'll be your server today. Our soup of the day is gazpacho with a sliced cucumber garnish and we have a lovely roasted beet salad served with arugula, walnuts and balsamic reduction- OH HELL NO! Is that little girl sitting on a toilet? Oh hell, no that ain't happening here, miss. There is something called health codes and I'm pretty sure that bowel movements and portable toilets don't fit into that equation. You need to pardon me excuse yourself not only from my station and from the restaurant but from civilization because what you're doing is kinda like the goddamned nastiest thing I have ever seen. Out. Right now. Let's move it, mother of the year. Pull them pants up on them little girls and you can sashay your potty training asses over to Chuck E. Cheese if you still need some lunch 'cause I ain't watching your kids squeeze out some business while I am trying to make a living slinging hash.

So here are my questions to you: what would you have done if you were the server and this was happening at your table? What would you have done if you were a customer and you saw this happening? And most importantly, what has happened to common sense and decency?



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41 comments:

Anonymous said...

Holy hell. I would have freaked out if I was a guest there....probably called cps if I was the server.

Christie Hampton said...

What would I have done? In a low voice, I would explained that she needed to pay bill, pack up the toddlers, the toilets and her belongings, in a quick don't fuck around pace as what she was allowing/encouraging to happen was not only nasty, but against the law. As she was doing as she was told, I would explain that she had broken health code law willingly, and that she was going to jailand her kids to CPS, if she didn't escape now. But, to also pay that bill, because that was against the law if she didn't. At this very moment, police had been dispatched to the restuarant.....NOW MOVE, MOVE, MOVE!! Makes a person wonder what her household is like? Also, makes a person wonder if sh is stable enough to be parenting, perhaps this was a cry for help?

Anonymous said...

This is the 1st I've heard of this story. I'm...in shock. "End of the world as we know it" was the perfect assessment.

This is also a woman who is raising her kids to believe they are above everyone and society as a whole.

My aunt told my 3 cousins they were special & precious snowflakes their whole lives. Now my 22 year old cousin can't hold down a job. If the boss says or directs her with ONE line of criticism, she freaks, runs out crying, and quits.

Dewsterling said...

At my nephew's first birthday, held at a lovely sushi restaurant as his parents knew the celebration was more about them than him, one of the guests shoved plates to the side and plopped her 2-year-old on the table to strip her down and change her diaper. ON THE TABLE. As we saw it happening and confronted her publicly, she claimed that she didn't want to take her kid to the bathroom because it might not be to her cleanliness standards.

Sufficed to say, our servers got a 100% tip and that nasty bitch never has been invited anywhere by any of us ever again. Yuck!

www.DiatribesAndOvations.com said...

Frankly, I'm no longer suprised by anything that happens in Utah. That place is all kinds of messed up.

Anonymous said...

I guess that if it had been in my station, I would have dropped trou and joined them. But, it was in Utah and we all know that the election campaign is showing us that the cult that dominates that state has its own sense of entitlement.

JoeinVegas said...

Best part is that someone took a picture so mom can't deny it.

Mandy said...

I'm going to go with anonymous on this one.. pooping right on the table seems appropriate

Jim said...

As someone who had a tough time potty training two kids I can understand the want to get out when doing it. It is a very frustrating time. But I see it similar to the difference between wanting to do a crime and actually doing it. You shouldn't actually go someplace public when doing this.

We only took my daughter's potty public once and that was to a mall to use in the family bathroom to get her over the fear of public restrooms, much different situation.

Unknown said...

You know somewhere out there other than this 'mom' there are parents that think this was perfectly fine "little kids have to use the potty don't they" you know they are saying".. I firmly believe that are morals have left the building and that is just sad..

jMAN5 said...

I predict that these girls will be pregnant by each others boyfriends by the time they're 15

Unknown said...

I most definitely would have stopped,mid telling of the specials cause fuck the porterhouse with garlc butter mushrooms at that point right?! Have told her with as much politeness as my face could muster, that it was time to go. I myself am a father of two under the age of two. And I'll be god damned if the day will ever arise when i make potty training my kids part of someone elses day. Least of all while they are trying to eat their dinner. This lady is obviously a freaking self absorbed Cee U Next Tuesday. Grow a brain and for gods sake teach your kids about decency, and possibly even that some things are private for them.
I once went to a table and was in the process of describing our specials, when i look to the mother only to see her breast COMPLETELY out feeding her child. Silver dollar pancakes anyone??? Dude, use a cloth, hell they sell em for that exact purpose!!! Sufficed to say, i stopped mid sentence and had to walk away. People, especially parents, never cease to amaze and disgust me.

Unknown said...

That's just wrong. I thought these Mormons were into modesty.
I've actually been to Lehi, Utah. This doesn't surprise me at all. Utah is full of parents like these. There is an abundance of unwarranted entitlement in Utah. You'd be dumbfounded.
Seriously, the moms there actually use restaurants when they aren't into cleaning up after feeding six kids. You haven't seen a cheerio mess until you've waited tables in Utah, and Utahns are the worse than Canadians at tipping.
They're like that everywhere, not just at restaurants.
One time in Downtown SLC, this dude a who was walking in front of a friend and me actually turned around and interjected his opinion into our conversation.

I was once at a movie in St. George, Utah. It was "Mad Dog and Glory" There was a baby in the fucking theater at a 10 PM showing, and it started balling, making a terrible racket. Literally drowning out the movie's sound. Instead of removing the baby, the mother decided that walking the screaming bundle of noise up and down the aisle was a better idea. The kicker: She walked backwards coming up the aisle so she wouldn't miss anything happening on the screen. She looked like the biggest idiot and could have cared less that she was ruining it for everyone, she only cared about not missing the movie. She didn't even really care about her baby. It never really stopped crying.

Utah sucks.

anne marie in philly said...

O...M...F...G...

Mary A. said...

My dad used to say "You don't shit where you eat."

He meant that it is unavoidable to cause problems at work, as it could cost you your job. But he also meant that you don't SHIT where you EAT.

I bet this family lets the kids bring food into the bathroom.

I am throwing up in my mouth a little now.

Ana S. said...

What would I have said...hmm...this is making the basic assumption that I still would have been capable of speech after my HEAD EXPLODED.

Seriously, this b*tch has to be mentally ill, as I don't know any sane Mother, Father, dog.....hell, even our guinea pigs know enough to walk away from their food dish, and into their litter box when they have to poop! And they are GUINEA PIGS.

Not only does the total disregard for the basic levels of decency blow my mind-but the attitude...the attitude is beyond depraved. 'I don't give a sh*t (or does she?!) about my fellow human being/diner, nor do I care about my daughters, as I am allowing them to sit here, naked as a jaybird, for any freak/pedophile to film photograph...whatever...anything goes, IT'S MY F*CKING CRAZY WORLD.'

I'm glad it was photographed though, not implying photog is a sicko. This honestly has to be seen to believe, and I still don't truly believe it.

Anonymous said...

Makes me worry I will get e. coli from having to wipe off the booth backs and chairs at my restaurant.

I could so see that happening there. But not in my effing section. Icky.

Buy stock in Purell, people, for real. I bet no one even decontaminated it before the next round of people sat down.

Jessica said...

I had a *friend* on Facebook from high school who posted a comment like "How dare Mcdonalds NOT have a changing station in the bathroom ! Screw them I changed out on the table, they should know better they can clean it up"
I promptly told her that was the grossest thing I have ever heard, how about out in the car or put a mat down and do it on the floor. Changing a diaper out in public on a surface where people EAT is disgusting.
She got all huffy with me and told me to walk a mile and I didn't have kids I had no idea.
I took care of triplet toddlers in college as a nanny, but I NEVER would have dreamed of doing any of this. WHAT THE HELL HAS HAPPENED TO OUR SOCIETY!? I am sad, angry, disgusted, mad, infurriated....

Becky said...

In reality, I probably would have just stared, mouth agape, with a horrified look in my eyes. I'd do this instead of taking their orders, until it hopefully shamed the mother.

In my mind though, I would tell the mother that I am confiscating her spawn, and filing a petition in court that she not be allowed in public without a handler to make sure she behaves like a decent human being. I'd inform her that her children would be boxed up and put in a warehouse with all the other uh-ohs. -sometimes I'm just a mean nasty person :)

Anonymous said...

If she's self absorbed enough to potty train them at the table, she's almost certainly going to be aggressive and defensive when challenged about it.

My first instinct would be to politely inform her that she was breaking health codes and would have to stop. However, second instinct would probably win: inform my manager what she was doing, mention the words 'health code violation' and 'other customers taking pictures' and let him deal with it (either phrase being enough to send most managers into a horrified frenzy of activity).

Sarah said...

Where does it say these people are Mormons? Or is everyone just assuming because this took place in Utah? Anyways...

...this is truly mortifying. Truth be told I thought Bitchy was just bullshitting at first but once I saw the picture I just couldn't believe my eyes! Who on earth does that??? I know potty training is hard but never once did the thought ever cross my mind to carry around a porta-potty for my kid when he was at that age much less bust it out in the middle of a restaurant. This woman is foul.

It's hard for me to believe that the server didn't see this, give me a break. He/she probably just didn't know how to handle it. I would have straight told the customer to at least take them into the damn bathroom or to get out. If I were another customer though...I'd caused a scene and then walked out because nobody in the restaurant was doing anything about it. Either way...THIS NASTY BITCH NEED STAY AT HOME!

DanORants said...

I would've called the DSS, informed the manager of what was going on, posted the ladies face on Facebook - hoping it will get shared enough by friends to eventually get back to her so can she be humiliated on Facebook, AND I would've personally humiliated her right there in public.

Anonymous said...

Eh... Being a parent i understand its not easy caring for children. I have three of my own. But this takes the cake!
I have seen self entitled mothers with oatmeal for brains do some of the dumbest shit ever. Sure they are tired and basically slaves to whiney mini humans but your basic job as a mother, especially to girls is decency, self respect and above all modesty.
This is laziness and lack of human interaction. Had this mother been properly socialized with other decent mothers, she might have understood this is unacceptable behavior.
Why do we need a license to drive a car but not to bring life into the world? Seriously... Screaming infants in movie theaters, spoiled little brats pitching a fit over a toy, parents that dont give two shits whether a kid gets decent grades in school or even gets into college to make something of themselves.
If i had to point a finger, it would be at the media. Reality shows certainly dont help. Garbage in, garbage out.

Practical Parsimony said...

At what point does the mother start to teach them modesty and appropriate public behavior? Will the girls be dropping their panties when they are 15 ad pooping behind bushes? I notice they are naked. If I were going to pull this, I would at least be a bit ashamed and put dress on them so they could be concealed a bit.

Anonymous said...

I believe it. One time a lady brought her toddler with her to fill out an application for a job in the factory where I worked. The kid had to "go" so she pulled his pants down and told him to poo right there on the chair in the waiting room. I kid you not.

DMT said...

10 years ago I entered the world of food business to earn money for socializing and subsequently paying for my University fees, I went in with a naive optimism and came out as a haggard cynic who doubts the existence of the inherent goodness and decency that is supposed to exist in people.

Like many above me have said before, I would have put a stop to it I would have told her she was breaking health and safety law and showing no consideration for everyone else around her. I have no qualms about tackling parents for allowing their kids to run wild in the establishment, climb the counter tops, throw stuff, draw on the tables with felt-tip pens and crayons put their feet up on the tables, and for changing diapers on the tables.

One of the reasons this stuff goes on is because managers act like spineless cowards and enforce the "customer is always right" bullshit, which sets a precedent for that stuff to continue and get worse. Typically what happens is....
1. Customer does something bad, server asks them please stop.
2. Customer throws a strop and complains to the manager.
3. Manager instead of backing up the server and enforcing store policy bends over backwards shoves his/her head up their own arse and gives the customer free shit.
4. Server may or may not be chastised for doing their job, but either way feels like they've been made to look a fool for doing their job properly and in future wont stop bullshit from happening and so it escalates.

Confessions from the Hairdresser said...

No fucking way!

Clearly no one in the immediate vicinity had any familiarity with OSHA.

That's revolting. We allegedly live in one of the most civilized countries in the world.

bistis6 said...

I would have asked them to stop immediately, and I would have let it be known that I thought they were disgusting morons. As a server, I've made a pregnant lady take her bare, filthy feet out of the banquet seat that was shared with other tables, and told a man to stop clipping his fingernails at his table only a mere few feet from other guests. So a shitting kid is a no-brainer. Out you go!

The RPh said...

As another patron in the restaurant, I would have told the mother that it was COMPLETELY inappropriate for her to bring a baby potty to a public place. ANY public place, let alone a place in which people are eating. I have a 3 1/2 year old that we have just finished potty training. NOT ONCE did I ever think to bring his potty with us outside the house. They have pull-ups for that. I've been fired for calling someone a bitch on the phone before, so I would have NO problem telling the lady how I felt about her actions.

SharleneT said...

I'm still trying to figure out how they came in with a potty, in the first place! I would have gathered the other diners and gathered round the manager and screamed until he/she got them out of the restaurant with potty in hand, regardless of whether it was empty or not. That's so wrong on so many levels, one hardly knows how to address it -- but, address it, I would.

Anonymous said...

Omg!

Anonymous said...

What horrifies me the most is that after finishing up, they must have had to wipe. You know, pull their poopy butts off their little pots & reveal the mess (& smell). And wipe.

Anonymous said...

So sad but TRUE!

Unknown said...

Sarah, she's Mormon. She's wearing garments. You can tell where her shirt is riding up. Definitely a Mormon. No question.

MarketsNYC said...

I think she's teaching her children excellent time management skills. Multi-tasking, if you will.

California Girl said...

You get your wish for a re -read. Missed THIS sparkling piece of etiquette 1st time around. Wish I'd missed it this time too but the title is so compelling.

As they used to say, "Now I've heard everything."

Cherie said...

For all future potty trainers: from the time they're babies, point out instances of other people using the toilet (daddy's putting his pee pee in the potty ") and every time you change their diaper, say" this is pee pee. It goes in the potty. " No stress for either party. My son could be special, but I kind of think it would work for lots of kids. One day around age 3 he just walked into the bathroom and started peeing in the toilet like he had been doing it forever.

Anonymous said...

OMG, I'm watching the case on Judge Ross right now. The parents are suing the blogger (Mandy Bruce) that took the photo!

Bruce's 2 main issues:
Health issue, fecal matter can be launched 6' in the air, which is an unnecessary exposure to bacteria.
Intimate exposure of children to the public. She argues that she is showing the ease of taking a picture and posting it on the internet, especially in such a reveling manner. That the children are being exposed to people that could endanger the child.

Although I agree with all of her points, I believe the blogger did everything right....except for the point that she posted the parents address. Apparently the parents are getting death threats, hate mail and the mother is on medication along with therapy.

The blogger was within her rights to take the picture, and she did a great job of hiding the identity of the child and blurring things out. The picture is tasteful considering the subject.

The Judge is considering the privacy of the parents and the children and he just said that they do not have a right of privacy when going into the public arena.

Now the Judge is considering the profiting of the blogger based on the picture of the children and the money's she is receiving from adverts and increase traffic from the article.

The parents are the winners. 1,000$ because of the money she was able to generate from "exploiting the children"

Correction...I see the judge made a comment about the picture to the effect that the original blogger did not blur the face of the child. Not cool Mrs. Bruce.

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Anonymous said...

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Unknown said...

Ew this is beyond gross!