NextJen
Raisin cane
My s/o and I were out yesterday in the LaPlata area and decided to stop in at the Port Tobacco Restaurant to have a bite to eat before we headed home. We were a little surprised that they were so busy for a Sunday afternoon, especially considering the weather being colder and it is a waterfront restaurant. As we went in we realized there was a live band setting up. It was The Sam Grow Band. I assume this is why people were pouring in. We were fortunate enough to get probably the last available table. People coming in after us started standing around hugging the walls.
The table we got seated at was large enough to sit 4 people. We sat across from each other, so we had two empty chairs, one next to each of us. We had ordered our dinner and were just starting on our first helping of oysters - they had an all you can eat special - when two young boys, probably around ages five and seven-ish came over to our table and asked us if they could sit in the empty seats at our table. Mind you, the Mother, who was holding an infant in her arms, and Father were standing against the wall about a table down from where we were. Neither one of them bothered to come over to the table to ask us if we would mind if their children could sit with us. They didn't know us from Adam and had no idea what kind of people we were, what kind of conversation we were having, or anything. They never even bothered to make eye contact with us. I was a little surprised that the boys asked us, and I looked at my guy and shrugged my shoulders, and we both kinda said, well....I guess that's ok if you sit down for a few minutes. We figured they were waiting for a table to open up.
The younger of the two boys had an iPhone that he was playing with and at first kept butting into our conversation to "show us some game he was playing"...I would smile at him and nod my head. However, when he pulled out some little green laser light and pointed it at my eyes, I looked at him and sternly said, "Don't do that." He decided to turn in his chair and play his game and be quiet. For the most part after that, they played their games and stayed turned away from us....until our next round of steamed and raw oysters came out. Then I ended up giving a little ecology, science, seafood lesson to the older boy sitting next to me. I found out he doesn't like hot sauce.
The waitress came back and looked perplexed, and asked us if they just joined us. I said, "Ummmmmm, sort of....but they aren't with us" - nodding my head toward the kids Mom and Dad. The waitress raised her eyebrow and said...ok....and sort of shook her head.
The boys sat with us for about half an hour. No tables opened up because everyone seemed to be staying for the band. They eventually got up and headed off somewhere, I didn't see them with the parents, so I'm not sure where they got off to.
It was kind of an awkward situation. I felt sort of bad for the little boys. I really felt like the parents were irresponsible to let their kids ask us if they could sit down instead of coming over to ask us themselves. But most of all, I felt like I would have never asked someone if my child could sit with them. I would make my own kids stand with me and be still until we got our own seat in a situation like that. I would never think of imposing my children on someone else.
I'm curious, how would any of you have handled this situation?
The table we got seated at was large enough to sit 4 people. We sat across from each other, so we had two empty chairs, one next to each of us. We had ordered our dinner and were just starting on our first helping of oysters - they had an all you can eat special - when two young boys, probably around ages five and seven-ish came over to our table and asked us if they could sit in the empty seats at our table. Mind you, the Mother, who was holding an infant in her arms, and Father were standing against the wall about a table down from where we were. Neither one of them bothered to come over to the table to ask us if we would mind if their children could sit with us. They didn't know us from Adam and had no idea what kind of people we were, what kind of conversation we were having, or anything. They never even bothered to make eye contact with us. I was a little surprised that the boys asked us, and I looked at my guy and shrugged my shoulders, and we both kinda said, well....I guess that's ok if you sit down for a few minutes. We figured they were waiting for a table to open up.
The younger of the two boys had an iPhone that he was playing with and at first kept butting into our conversation to "show us some game he was playing"...I would smile at him and nod my head. However, when he pulled out some little green laser light and pointed it at my eyes, I looked at him and sternly said, "Don't do that." He decided to turn in his chair and play his game and be quiet. For the most part after that, they played their games and stayed turned away from us....until our next round of steamed and raw oysters came out. Then I ended up giving a little ecology, science, seafood lesson to the older boy sitting next to me. I found out he doesn't like hot sauce.
The waitress came back and looked perplexed, and asked us if they just joined us. I said, "Ummmmmm, sort of....but they aren't with us" - nodding my head toward the kids Mom and Dad. The waitress raised her eyebrow and said...ok....and sort of shook her head.
The boys sat with us for about half an hour. No tables opened up because everyone seemed to be staying for the band. They eventually got up and headed off somewhere, I didn't see them with the parents, so I'm not sure where they got off to.
It was kind of an awkward situation. I felt sort of bad for the little boys. I really felt like the parents were irresponsible to let their kids ask us if they could sit down instead of coming over to ask us themselves. But most of all, I felt like I would have never asked someone if my child could sit with them. I would make my own kids stand with me and be still until we got our own seat in a situation like that. I would never think of imposing my children on someone else.
I'm curious, how would any of you have handled this situation?
