Restaurant refuses to sing happy bday to 6 yr old

[Blarg]

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lol i just had the same thought abolut you.

i dont understand what the dad's choice to drive to the restaurant to ask or the fact that the owner is needed to take care of problems has to do with the OP

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Then why are we talking about it?

[Stuey]

I'm going to sing this kid his song already!

Happy birthday to you, squashed tomatoes and stew, bread and butter in the gutter, happy birthday to you. [img]/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img]

[Duke]

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the kid sounds pretty spoiled if he actually got upset because they wouldnt sing happy bday to him. my parents would have asked once and if they were told no that wouldve been the end of it.

anyways, i am sure that his parents will be telling this story for years.

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QFT. Thank you KKF.

LOL at parents thinking this qualifies as drama and trauma. Strongly suspect the kid was made to feel much worse by the parent(s) making a big deal out of this.

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Six year olds have an attention span of about seven seconds. "Where is da waitar mommee?" -- "OK, everyone lets sing."... Kid forgets about it instantly.

Instead, it looks like they sat at the table whispering to eachother about the audacity of the owner, threatening amongst themselves to call the police, considering tearing up the bill, planning to email their local news station or filing a complaint with the better business bureau.

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I saw some normal 6 year old kids last year, and I can vouch for this being correct in virtually all cases. I do my best to avoid kids that I didn't have a hand in raising.

[bwana devil]

i have a feeling the person at the table that was actually disappointed was the parent, not the child.

that being said, if a representative of the restaurant told them they'd sing and then the restaurant should either:

- sing anyway
- comp meals
- provide gift certificates

[bwana devil]

this reminds of a situation in my hometown (austin) in that as the story goes, three moms had lunch at a newly established restaurant with their 1-2 year olds. the kids made made loud talking-like noises during the meal and the owner of the restaurant didnt like the noise and told the moms they were not welcome with their kids anymore since it was not the type of restaurant he was trying to establish. one of the mom's posted the incident on local internet bulletin boards and it spread across the city.

[El Diablo]

Blarg,

The hostess in a place like this is not generally of any supervisory or managerial nature. And it's pretty standard for bars/restaurants to go straight to hell if an owner/manager isn't there. That's just the way they work.

[dnh83]

Isn't it just so much more +EV for the restaurant to just temporarily change it's policy? I mean the hostess already promised the guy, you have 5 kids there ready to get all pissed if they're turned down, not to mention you risk pissing off the adult customer who might never come back. Plus, the whole argument that took place probably took up more time that just singing the damn song. I just sang it at normal tempo and it took 19 seconds.

Also, LOL at people bashing the poor kid. He's six. I remember a birthday party I had, I'm pretty sure it was my 6th but it might have been 7th. We went to a batting cage/sports themed restaurant type place. The waitress brought out the cake, gave some other kid the first piece, and I started crying. Not like attention whore crying, I even remember thinking to myself at the time that it was not worth crying about, but I couldn't help it. I was six. Six year old kids are barely human.

And finally, how big of a nit do you have to be to have your meal RUINED by hearing the birthday song a couple tables away? Seriously, ruined?

Wife: Hey honey, how was dinner with your brother?
Husband: We heard the birthday song.
Wife: Yeah but how wa
Husband: I SAID WE HEARD THE [censored] BIRTHDAY SONG!!!!!!!! AHHHH!!!!!!!! *husband Benoits entire family*

[34TheTruth34]

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hypothetical.. if you guys owned a restaurant, how many 6 year olds do you think your place would be able to refuse to sing happy birthday to?

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BIMO

[Blarg]

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Blarg,

The hostess in a place like this is not generally of any supervisory or managerial nature. And it's pretty standard for bars/restaurants to go straight to hell if an owner/manager isn't there. That's just the way they work.

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Don't agree on the latter. If that happens, it's probably because the owner is either the chef, or because he has not properly trained his employees. I'd count any business where the owner steps out and the place crashes down as a significant failure no matter how much money it's making. I don't think you're giving enough credence to proper training, to empowering employees to make decisions even expecting it of them, and even to hiring a manager if you can't figure out how to do those things yourself.

I've been in charge of things like this, and my family has experience in this kind of thing. Every little fart in the bathtub getting to the owner is not the only way to do this.

You may well have to go through a LOT of people before you find ones good enough to not make this the case, though. High turnover industry, and not always voluntary.

[Blarg]

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Also, LOL at people bashing the poor kid. He's six. I remember a birthday party I had, I'm pretty sure it was my 6th but it might have been 7th. We went to a batting cage/sports themed restaurant type place. The waitress brought out the cake, gave some other kid the first piece, and I started crying. Not like attention whore crying, I even remember thinking to myself at the time that it was not worth crying about, but I couldn't help it. I was six. Six year old kids are barely human.



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heheh QFT. When I was six, I had a birthday part and there was the standard pin the tail on the donkey/musical chairs type stuff. I think I cried the bitterest tears when I didn't win in musical chairs. Because when it came to winning musical chairs, I really WANTED TOOOOOOO!

Unbearable psychic pain for a little dork.