Has it gone too far?
I don't think even Mike Vuick himself would have envisioned that news of his Pittsburgh area restaurant's well-publicized 'no-kids' policy would have such impact around the globe.
It was brought to my attention by a friend through Facebook of an article in Shine, the parenting information arm of Yahoo! that many businesses are beginning to cash in on the childless.
The support that Mr. Vuick has had is now receiving the attention of big business. And it is being taken very seriously.
I reiterate my earlier position in a previous column that I support Mr. Vuick's policy of banning children under the age of six from his establishment. I don't see Mr. Vuick is a child-hater, but simply someone who valued his clientele enough to take their complaints seriously. And when you operate an upscale establishment that caters to a high-dollar crowd and markets itself as a quiet, casual place, then you should stand by this statement.
Otherwise, you're out of business. Simple economics.
According to the article in Shine, an airline in Malaysia is banning children from certain first-class seats. Other airlines are considering their own policies to follow suit.
The article also mentions a website called http://www.leavethembehind.com/, even promotes couples-friendly, kid-free vacations with tips on how to maximize their enjoyment without having to put up with the wailing waifs or caterwalling curtain-climbers polluting our landscape today.
While some may find websites or businesses like the foregoing offensive, keep in mind that less than twenty years ago, we didn't need rules to govern our children's behavior.
Because we were once children ourselves. We knew what was expected of us, and what the consequences were of not meeting those expectations.
But those who are becoming parents today are a different breed. They don't supervise or otherwise teach their children how to behave properly in public. Or, they try and after a couple of unsuccessful tries, they simply give up and turn a blind eye or deaf ear to their son or daughter's misbehavior.
Or yet, they're too ignorant to recognize the convention between an 'adults-only' gathering and one that's 'kid-friendly'.
You don't take a six-month-old to a wine-tasting event (that was a faux pas on our part, we learned). You don't take a two-year-old to a five-star restaurant. You don't take a three-year-old to a movie theater. You either hire a babysitter or stay at home with them, because if you can afford these things, you can afford a sitter.
Wanna know the difference between a good parent and a bad one? A valid threat followed by the fitting consequence, mental or physical.
My parents knew this. As did my grandparents.
And I believe the present generation knows this. They choose to ignore it.
And as long as that sense of entitlement continues among said generation (and to a lesser degree my own peers), we're not going to see any relief anytime soon.
Fewer and fewer people are having children these days. Having seen such poorly behaved children in public and reading about what they grow up into in the news, who can blame them?
After all, you don't have to teach a pet how to behave (much), clothe them or send them to college, nor worry about if they plot to one day murder you in your sleep because inheriting money is easier than working.
Maybe the childless are onto something.
But that's not for me to determine. I sure won't villify anyone for remaining childless by choice. They're contributing more to society by that than reproducing and failing miserably at their parental obligations.
Nonetheless, I'll close by saying that I will never set an age limit for those reading my column.
Because I think all who read it can, and should, learn something.
NEXT WEEK: The Closer
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