Sometimes, people forget that babies are people too. The world seems to think that babies shouldn’t exist in the same public spaces that they do — like airplanes and weddings — and while we can see their point sometimes, this Reddit dad seems to be getting unfairly called out. He had the audacity to bring his baby to a restaurant (*gasp!*), and it caused some big feelings from people on the Internet.
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Happy Baby
Image Credit: Lisa Fotios/Pexels In the “Am I The A—hole?” subreddit, a dad explained that he took his wife and their 10-month-old baby to a “mid tier” restaurant for his wife’s birthday on a Wednesday evening, when they weren’t busy.
“We have a 10 month old who’s just about the happiest kid ever,” he wrote. “Nearly anything I do makes him laugh. Well at dinner I was making him laugh. He’d throw in some happy yelling. Maybe got a touch loud but he was in a great mood.” It sounds adorable, right? Ten months is that super cute age where babies are cooing and starting to talk and eating solids and just generally being precious little humans. Except some people apparently hate the sound of happiness, and they complained about the baby.
The dad wrote, “Well the table next to us had an issue with what I was doing and asked me to stop. They told us to keep it down.”
The Neighboring Table Complained
Image Credit: Burak The Weekender/Pexels Like any parent would do, the dad simply explained that his baby was laughing, not screaming. How could anyone have a problem with that, right? Well, they did. “They just repeat that he is too loud, if he is going to be like this they suggested we stay home,” the dad continued. Um, overreaction much? They have to stay home because their baby is laughing?! Give me a break.
“I tell them to leave us alone and continue making my son laugh,” the dad continued, adding that the table called him “an a**hole” for it and requested to move tables.
In an edit, the dad added that the entire giggling interaction took place over “a 3-5 minute interaction with my son while waiting for the check.” The dad went on, “It was 90% giggling. The other hour-plus we were there it was just him being quiet or eating or going bahbahbah over and over. There was no extended shrieking at all that occurred.” Seriously, people can be so rude when it comes to babies.
Everyone Called Him The A-Hole
Image Credit: Emma Bauso/Pexels Redditors were basically united against this dad. One person wrote, “I’m assuming that ‘laugh’ here is loud, happy, baby shrieking, and by the sounds of it, it was ongoing happy shrieking, and not an isolated laugh. That’s too loud for a restaurant. You’re dining in a restaurant. You need to moderate your voices – the people at the next table don’t want to hear your conversation, and they don’t want to be continually disturbed by the happy shrieks of your baby either.” They added, “You’re not the a**hole for making your baby happy. You’re the a**hole for making too much noise in a restaurant.”
Someone else said, “Exactly. There’s a certain level of respect that you’re expected to exhibit when you’re in public. The world doesn’t revolve around you, and it’s rude to make excessive noise in a restaurant.”
“YTA, there is a difference between a baby crying in a restaurant on its own, and you encouraging your baby to be loud by laughing,” someone wrote. “Have some courtesy for other people when out in public. This is some entitled BS on your part.”
“YTA. Let me preface this by saying that there is nothing wrong with your child’s joy and you sound like a fantastic parent,” another person wrote. “BUT in your post you mentioned both laughing and happy yelling. Those are not the same thing. A quiet giggle? Sure, no problem. But yelling? No. Just because it’s happy, doesn’t take away the fact that it’s yelling. Imagine if you were just trying to enjoy a quiet dinner with your family and group of rowdy drunken people kept yelling and laughing at the table next to yours. Happy doesn’t mean it’s not still annoying.”
Personally, a group of rowdy drunken people is nowhere near the same level as one 10-month-old laughing baby, but I can see the point. It’s common decency to at least try to keep your baby quiet while out in public — although I still think people are way too uptight about babies in public in general. The dad could have stopped provoking his baby to laugh after someone complained, but maybe other people should consider taking a chill pill when they go out in public. You’re getting mad over a laughing baby? Please, be serious.
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