A woman was out to dinner with her family in Idaho when two grandmothers from another booth slammed down a pink note on her table. She couldn’t believe the ugly message she read on the otherwise pretty piece of paper.
Katie Leach wasn’t concerned with who was sitting near her. She wasn’t there to constantly watch over her shoulder or ensure that strangers had a good time. All Katie wanted to do was enjoy some family time with her young son Drew. The bubbly 10-month-old boy had been doing what toddlers do when they’re happy — laughing, clapping, and occasionally letting out some uncontrollable excitement.
“He had been screaming off and on just with everybody as they were singing happy birthday. And when one of the waitresses would come up, he’d scream to tell them hi,” Katie said. “We all tried quieting him down which a majority of the time he did, but he also was so excited to be around all the commotion. He was not yelling to be mean or because he was mad, it was purely from excitement and being happy.”
The joyous noise was rather infrequent during the time the Leach family dined together, and it is a typical part of the ambiance at the family-friendly eatery. As normal as the instance was and is to be expected at a restaurant like that, two older women had a lesson for this “disrespectful” mother whose son “ruined” their meal.
The mother admitted that her son’s “new thing” was being loud, but she added that it wasn’t as though Drew was yelling the entire time. He was just excited, and when his emotions got away from him, he let out an occasional hyper screech. “I’m doing my best to teach him indoor voice and to not yell back at me when telling him no etc, but he is only 10 (almost 11 months) and LEARNING,” the mother explained.
About halfway through the meal, two customers in “their late 50’s or early 60’s” slammed a disapproving note down on the table between Katie and her young son. The two women then returned to their table which was located directly behind the Leach family.
Katie was shocked by the audacity of these intolerant older women, who lacked compassion and class when putting their opinion on paper. “Thank you for ruining our dinner with your screaming kid. Sincerely, the table behind you,” the bright pink note read.
Katie was left feeling at a loss for words. Trying to make amends as well as defend herself and her son, Katie went to their table and explained that Drew was still learning how to behave in public. “He’s so young,” Katie said. “He barely understands now. I mean he’s starting to learn that when we tell him no that means to tone it down, which he was doing.”
The women responded by comparing their grandkids with Katie’s child, saying that they would never behave the way Drew did. If their grandchildren actually are well-behaved, they didn’t learn it from dear old disgruntled grandma, who feels it’s her place to butt into other people’s business and tell strangers how they are parenting the wrong way.
Katie told the manager what happened, and he was just as surprised as her. He paid for Leach’s meal and said Drew was welcome any time. Additionally, the restaurant chain came to the mother’s defense and issued a statement. “We’re in the hospitality business. We want all our guests to have a great experience,” said Texas Roadhouse spokesman Travis Doster. “We were voted one of the loudest restaurants by Consumer Reports. We are proud to be loud. If you want to hear clinking wine glasses and clinking forks, then this probably isn’t the place for you.”
Texas Roadhouse knows that families want to eat out too, and they have provided the perfect environment for that. These snooty women were in the wrong to think they should have a say in how other people parent. They obviously haven’t spent enough time with their own children to think this behavior from a kid is unexpected. Maybe they could take a page out of Katie’s book and benefit from some joyous family time like she was trying to do.
