We’ve all been in the middle of one of those situations at one time or other. A family with little kids is raising a ruckus at your fave Fast Food joint. One resto manager tried to reign in the chaos but ended up in the dog house, instead. And it turned out it was all a misunderstanding, in the end…
Turned out the manager was targeting teenaged delinquents, not
families with small children. Poor Choice of words…
Fed up with a growing tide of rowdiness and disruptive behaviour, an Arby’s manager in Elk River, Minnesota, posted a sign (see photo, above) that was meant to warn potential disrupters they would be ejected if they acted up in the restaurant. Seems the wording of the sign was a little off. Once the first offended Mom posted a pic to Facebook, the reaction came thick and fast – and mixed:
“I love it. It you can’t control your kids then don’t take them to places they can disturb others,” Facebook user Nicole Hunstad posted. “My son is autistic and he has had a meltdown or two while out, but I always take him out to the car/ hallway.”
“In my opinion I stand with the restaurant. It’s not a playground,” Facebook user Jeff Conkling stated.
“How are children ever supposed to learn how to behave in restaurants, movie theatres, etc. if they are never allowed in these places?” asked Facebook user Sam Cornforth.
Arby’s reaction
The restaurant owner took the sign down after the complaints started to roll in. But he didn’t issue a public apology. That was left to Arby’s corporate:
“We recognize the language on this sign was insensitive,” Arby’s said, in a statement. “We removed it quickly, and have disciplined the manager and team working at the restaurant. It does not reflect our company values and the family-friendly environment we aim to provide in all of our restaurants.”
Okay. But there’s more to the story
Turns out that the sign was meant as a warning to unruly high school kids not to terrorize the place. Facebook user Anne Marie Larson, an Elk River resident, posted an explanation:
“The sign was poorly worded, but reflects an ongoing problem in this part of Elk River. There is a small group of middle and high school students who do nothing more than harass people trying to shop, drive and eat in the area of that Arby’s.”
So…
The whole mess could have been avoided if the Arby’s manager had simply used the words ‘teenagers’ or ‘young people’ on the sign instead of ‘children’. But that didn’t happen, and a whole bunch of parents – some who only knew of the incident via social media – got their shirt tails in a knot for nothing. If you read the whole story, you quickly realize that the sign wasn’t aimed at parents of small children at all.
My take
I agree wholeheartedly with the Facebook users who with sided with the Mom with the autistic toddler. Young children only learn social niceties through experience – success and failure. When they fail, there are always lots of elders around to let them know it!
But I also sympathize with the poster who pointed out that restaurants aren’t playgrounds. (Except, maybe, McDonald’s locations with a Play Place.)
So, I propose a compromise solution that should satisfy the wishes of just about everybody involved in the incident we dissect, here, today. Take your kids – autistic, hyperactive or whatever – to the Fast Food restaurants and let them learn how to behave in such environments. But take them in during off-peak hours when any outburst will disturb the smallest number of other patrons. And have the common sense to remove them if they continue to misbehaved after a couple of warnings. A teachable moment is just that – one moment. Everyone involved will be better off at the time and into the future if you handle the situation thoughtfully and assertively.
Ass for the rotten delinquents whom we are told are out to terrorize Elk River: Give them a clear warning about their unacceptable behaviour. If their shenanigans persist, complain to the police. It’s their job to enforce society’s rules about public behaviour, threats and harassment, and damage to, or destruction of property. That ought to grab the Hell raisers’ attention…
Maggie J.