Here in the Pittsburgh area, a local restauranteur made world headlines by banning children under the age of six from his establishment.
While one would think that this would prompt a hurricane of outrage in today's society, I was relieved to see that the reverse has happened.
His name is Mike Vuick, and he owns McDain's Restaurant and Golf Center on Broadway Boulevard in Monroeville, Pennsylvania.
Mike was interviewed by just about every major press outlet across the globe when he sent out an email to his patrons informing them that children under the age of six would no longer be welcome at his establishement.
The reaction has been overwhelmingly positive. And I'm glad to see someone finally take a stand on this.
When my wife gave birth to our daughter, most of my friends and acquaintances, knowing that I enjoy fine dining, advised me to start taking my child to sit-down restaurants at a young age to make sure they know how to properly behave in such venues.
I heeded this advice. And I can say that after two years, I can only count on one hand the number of times we've had 'meltdowns' in restaurants stemming from our daughter.
And we have always, without exception, taken her outside until she calmed down. This practice will continue by Margie and me.
We're considerate of others and their dining experience. I myself, before I had married, can remember having my meal ruined by a misbehaving child acting up and the parents sitting idly by and doing nothing to stop it.
It had gotten so bad at one point that I would ask a server to seat me and my date near other couples or those who had teenagers.
After witnessing such bad behavior, I vowed to myself that I would never allow my child to cause such a ruckus in public. And for the past two years, I've put my money where my mouth is.
It's sad that Mr. Vuick had to resort to such tactics. But those who object to it, need to review the restaurant's history.
McDain's never offered a 'kid's menu', nor family-friendly prices or anything that openly catered to families, aside from maybe high chairs until July 16th, when the ban went into effect. It was strictly an upscale restaurant.
And if I'm going to plunk down close to $100 for a meal, it better be a quiet and pleasant experience.
You want to bring your screaming brats with you into a restaurant and do nothing to control them, go to a buffet house or a fast food joint.
Because that's where you belong.
Otherwise, hire a babysitter for a few hours. Though I haven't needed one for some time, we do have one on standby.
For Mr. Vuick's part, he's enjoyed a surge in business since the news story broke. He claimed to a TV station here that he's gotten one complaint to every 11 compliments.
And that ain't bad. Good work, sir.
NEXT WEEK: Your little 'pacifist'
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