Amy, you used to take photos of people talking on the phone - it's fine with me and it helps to show themselves how silly they look from aside.
But you don't take pictures of people creating dangerous situation due to their negligence, pictures that can potentially be - God forbid - used in court. And yes, it can show them how dangerously stupid they are.

It is the responsibility of an establishment to provide a safe environment for their customers. In this case, one of the Starbucks employees should have told the woman that the behavior was dangerous and would not be allowed.

Maybe this makes me an ass but anytime I carry a cup full of something or a tray I am always very careful of my surroundings and watchful so as not to bump into others. The part that might make me an ass is that I also hold the cup or tray at a slight angle so that if some nitwit isn't paying attention to their surroundings and my carefulness is in vain....they get the contents dumped on them, not me...

Shame on you Amy for not thinking that that woman's spawn are wonderful little angels as she does...nothing could befall HER glorious progeny...

Starbucks employees aren't supposed to scold customers

No the scolding is done by the spilled hot coffee!

Oops that is scalding that is done by the coffee.

@ Marina - It is the responsibility of an establishment to provide a safe environment for their customers. In this case, one of the Starbucks employees should have told the woman that the behavior was dangerous and would not be allowed.

Where does one draw the line? You could make a serious case, given the behavior of a ton of "adults," that Starbucks is creating a dangerous environment for their customers simply by serving them hot coffee. On the other end of the spectrum, what if someone holds up the Starbucks? Are the employees required to do everything they can to keep the customers safe? Of course not.

The mother in question is responsible for the actions of her children. Starbucks is not a daycare center. The mother's responsibility does not end because she's in a private enterprise.

other forseeable outcomes:

Starbucks employee asks that children not ride scooters in store, mother complains, employee fired.

kid runs into patron, patron gets burned, beats shit out of mother.

off topic - was at a midget football game last weekend and there's a rope separating the crowd from the field. Violating that rope gets a penalty for the team whose people are on that side. kid was pushing the rope as far toward the field as he could. I told him to cut it out, his grandmother thanked me.

I see nothing wrong with establishments kicking out unruly patrons, whatever their age.

Dunkin Donuts would be getting my business.

As a parent of two young children, I'd like to make a deal with y'all: I'll discipline my children to prevent bad restaurant behavior if you let me.

I'm sick of people who give me dirty looks when I use a stern voice with my kids (not loud, just stern) as though I'm being to hard on the little angels. Sometimes people make a point of saying "oh they're fine" or "they are so good" right when they are on the verge of major malfeasance. Sometimes children won't give up and want to argue or threaten a tantrum. Nothing to see here people, move along. I'll take them to the car if they get out of control.

You can't have it both ways, people. Keeping a young child in line occasionally requires a stern hand. You can't be upset when the little tyrants are out of control and yet hold it against the parents when we try to control them. Of course, we've solved these problems by carry-out and delivery most of the time.

I was at a charity boxing fund raiser on Saturday night. It was Cops vs Fireman to raise money for MS, called Guns-n-Hoses. Two "ladies" sitting in front of me and my daughter had 2 chlidren one about 20months old and the other one probably close to 3. It was at an auditirium with concrete stairs. Not surprisingly the kids had little balls to play with and were going up and down the stairs and up and down the isles unsupervised.
The mother had the to yank the younger one from our row of seats to hers in front of us a couple times. I was ignoring the kid. Then right when the current fight had it's first knockdown the mom in front of me gave me a little nasty look and said nastily "my son's ball is under your chair!" I was watching the fight not paying attention to "her" child. My daughter reached under the chair and got the ball for her and the kid. I was waiting for the unsupervised littler kid to fall down the concrete stairs, but thankfully that never happened. Both kids were poorly supervised and I guess the rest of us in this crowd of 2 thousand were suppossed to be watching her kids, I assumed from her attitude. I guess I didn't get the memo. I thought I was there to watch charity boxing matches. At least that's what my ticket said!

*****As a parent of two young children, I'd like to make a deal with y'all: I'll discipline my children to prevent bad restaurant behavior if you let me.

I'm sick of people who give me dirty looks when I use a stern voice with my kids (not loud, just stern) as though I'm being to hard on the little angels. Sometimes people make a point of saying "oh they're fine" or "they are so good" right when they are on the verge of major malfeasance. Sometimes children won't give up and want to argue or threaten a tantrum. Nothing to see here people, move along. I'll take them to the car if they get out of control.

You can't have it both ways, people. Keeping a young child in line occasionally requires a stern hand. You can't be upset when the little tyrants are out of control and yet hold it against the parents when we try to control them. Of course, we've solved these problems by carry-out and delivery most of the time. *****

Serioulsy, jjc, if I ever, EVER actually see someone make their kid behave in public I will stand up and applaud. No, I'm not exaggerating.

Please move to my city immediately and lead by example. We sorely need it.

I'm sick of people who give me dirty looks when I use a stern voice with my kids (not loud, just stern) as though I'm being too hard on the little angels.
____________________

Sorry to hear it. I might look in the general direction, just out of curiosity, but I would never give the look that says "you're being too stern."

I have to say, I relish those (rare) moments when the kid is being destructive or about to act destructive and the parent isn't doing anything (or sometimes doesn't know)so *I* get to snap "DON'T DO THAT!" Always stops them in their tracks.

The mother who would allow her kids to ride around on a skooter inside is an idiot. While Starbucks isn't responsible to parent children, the manager should have stepped forward and asked the behavior to stop. It can be done in a nice non-offensive way (not that it should have to be)because the bottom line is that when a customer gets scalded, that mother will be wondering the aisles of Target allowing her kids to run amok while Starbucks will be getting served with a lawsuit. I've seen managers in businesses step in many times when the parent does not. Usually when handled correctly, the parent is red faced as he/she should be.

I see nothing wrong with establishments kicking out unruly patrons, whatever their age.

They'd better videotape it and run it by their lawyers first.

"We reserve the right to refuse services to you. Take your business back to Walgreen's, have you tried your local zoo?" - Kinky Friedman

Of course, that song's actually protesting the kind of discrimination that made "management reserves the right to refuse service to anyone" a thing of the past.

Obviously, the mother shouldn't let her children ride their scooters inside, especially in a place with hot beverages being carried to and fro. I just assumed that we all understood this part. Not to mention that these kids have been so poorly parented that in their world, this kind of behavior is perfectly fine.

Yes, the management has a responsibility to set general standards of behavior, especially as they pertain to safety. Clearly, if there is a robbery going on, they are not responsible. Why do people jump immediately to the most extreme example?

Had I been in such a situation, I would have spoken to an employee and asked them to handle it. If I'm there to get a cup of coffee, I want to do it without some dumbass unnecessarily putting me at risk of injury, and without having to have a confrontation with said dumbass.

That is hilarious, Amy! :)

Scooters inside now? Great! I thought those sneakers with wheels were bad enough.

This is where a firm backhand to the face in in order from parent to child. And just try to stop me from doing it, I will give you worse

I think my mother would have given me a scathing look and then found out the truth, told me I deserved it and then would smack me for being a little shit. Then told me to clean up the mess. Of course I would then try my father for sympathy later and he would probably also give me a tongue lashing and another smack for measure. Hmm thinking about now I never did seem to learn.

Actually my father said me and my siblings never threw more than one public tantrum because after the first one we learned all about the belt. Always did wonder if it was true?!

Sheepmommy, I too am still agog at the idea of children being allowed to ride scooters inside an establishment of any kind.

As a parent of two young children, I'd like to make a deal with y'all: I'll discipline my children to prevent bad restaurant behavior if you let me.

You'll get no argument from me on that. At all. Ever.

I could see the manager handling it, but the rest of the employees? I worked at a fast food place for a while, and they don't train regular employees to deal with this kind of thing, so I doubt that Starbucks does, either. Normally, as an employee at this type of place, you're supposed to be nice and friendly and helpful. Reminding parents to keep their kids from doing something dangerous - maybe the manager has been taught a good way to do it.

I'm sick of people who give me dirty looks when I use a stern voice with my kids (not loud, just stern) as though I'm being to hard on the little angels.

No complaints from me. I suspect one of two things is going. The people giving you the dirty looks are the people that let their kids run wild. Or, you come across much harsher then you think. My brother seems like he is going to have a major cow over minor things with my niece and nephew - he isn't, that is just the way he sounds. But even knowing that my first reaction is often times to say something like that he should chill out.

Scalding hot liquids, and other inappropriate combinations of child + serious hazard merit intervention by the nearest responsible adult.

It is ideal that parents would be unfailingly on the ball regarding their kids. That they aren't does not relieve the rest of us of our ability to respond constructively and protectively when presented with an unacceptable hazard. Hot coffee on my lap or laptop would be a problem. Hot coffee in a kid's face because his head is waist-high to the patron into whom rode his scooter - that would be a heart stopping horror, and haunting if I could have prevented it by barking "Off the scooter, now. Not inside."

And now I'm remembering hustling to keep up with my mother as she headed out of a store, with one of my ears firmly in her grip, after I flatly refused to leave when she said it was time to go. That happened exactly once.

Hmm, I read the headline and thought, ok what idiot bought their under 17 year old kid grand theft auto4 and then complained about the adult themes.

Oh, for the days of my grandma. "Ow! I burned my hand on your stove!" would get you a "I thought any fool knew not to touch a hot stove."

Is there any way we find our way back to the days where whiners were not rewarded by monetary payouts? Maybe save the courts system for genuine injustices?

Wow! I met an actual demon child today. Curly blond hair, blue eyes, dimples. Cut in front of me in a toy store. Her heavily- pierced, tough- looking dad corrected her in a thin passive voice,-"Honey, don't be ruu -ude" and she hissed, "Shaddup!". When I kindly inquired what she had picked out, thinking I could neutralize the atmosphere, she actually bared her teeth at me.
The CLERK rolled her eyes at me and SHE said, "Sorry!". The cutie looked 4. Can't wait for 13!

The sperm donor was actually afraid of the little shit, and used that wheedling voice most ineffective parents use.
The clerk who may have known the child, said, "Maddie, don't cut. Wait your turn!" in a very firm voice, before the dad took his thumb out of his butt to play father-figure.
I love kids, would be an awesome parent, and my blood boils when I witness kids raised by wolves.

I wish I had said: "Look you little shit- beauty is only skin deep. You keep that up and your fangs will keep growing and turn black, and your eyes will turn into black pools of horror, and you'll have no friends!" I was afraid she'd put a curse on me and her dad would put me on a hit list. That's how scary she was. and I feel sorry for her. and I'm a sucker. and don't mention my punctuation!
I'm in a bad mood.

As a parent of two young children, I'd like to make a deal with y'all: I'll discipline my children to prevent bad restaurant behavior if you let me.

I'm sick of people who give me dirty looks when I use a stern voice with my kids (not loud, just stern) as though I'm being to hard on the little angels.

This is where you have to pay no mind to some people. I've had people say "oh it's alright" too and I tell them, "no, it isn't, I'm trying to get her to stop doing that." Be the boss of your own kids and eff everyone else. I'll even give my kid a little smack in public if the situation warrants it and I couldn't care less if some idiot thinks I'm Hitler for it. I will not let my kids embarrass me.

On the flip side, I appreciate it when someone else tells them not to do something, because they really pay attention then! It doesn't happen often (they are reasonably well behaved) but I think a lot of people let other people's kids get away with too much for fear of being rebuked by the parent.

Hell, I had a grandparent go ballistic on me once for talking to her upset grandchild about waiting her turn on a piece of playground equipment! Now that was ridiculous! The kid yelled in my face, I stayed calm and simply backed off, and the grandparent went nuts, so I said "gee, not hard to see where the kid gets that behaviour from" and when the GP wouldn't let up, I told her to fuck off. Which she did.

tag close fail, lol