Columnist King C.'s recent post "There Will Be No Milk Served To Your Baby in the New School" about children being allowed in pubs has caused quite a stir on both the comments and twitter. No doubt its a controversial subject, and one that really splits people down the middle. I think this might be the time to test out the first ever New School poll on whether kids should be allowed in the bar or not. Make sure to read King C's post on Staggering Toward Berhalla first before voting.
Question and answers to vague.
ReplyDeleteDepends on age of child; Depends on mentality and discipline of parents; Depends on type of Pub (Horse Brass or Bridgeport or Bailey's or Wine Cellar at Edgefield or Bob's dive bar); Define pub (Beer, Beer and Wine or All booze); Depends on the average clientele of the pub.
It should be basic Common Sense! Does the establishment look like a place a kid belongs? Maybe the biggest problem is a a lot of people have lost sight of common sense in lieu of their own personal pleasures?
Yeah but I dont think I can address those options in a poll. But if you want to debate it in the comments then have at it.
ReplyDeleteMy vote is: Each pub should be able to choose whether/when/where to allow kids.
ReplyDeleteMy vote is: what Bill said.
ReplyDeleteIt's another way for pubs to differentiate themselves, whether it's really kid friendly (Laurelwood, etc.) or kid hostile.
Bill's got it. As a matter of public policy, pubs should exist that allow children. As a society, we should be agnostic about whether a *particular* pub wants to allow kids. Laurelwood, yay, Dante's, nay.
ReplyDeleteOh, on a separate subject: props for having a poll. I'm all for them!
ReplyDeleteI'm OK with letting pubs choose. They just need to know children don't pay the bills and others may not go that pub because of the childrens present. If Laurelwood is doing fine with they're Bozo the Clown appeal, more power to them.... but I can tell you there's a lot of $$$ that they're missing out on. ;-}
ReplyDeleteI agree with Wort (and Jeff) here. The type of place and atmosphere really makes a difference. If I'm with my wife and daughter and we want to stop for an afternoon pint and something to eat, we'll go to Laurelwood, or less often, the Lucky Lab, Prost, or even the HB. Mind you, this is in the afternoon, on weekdays when the places aren't busy, and we eat, have a pint (or two--at the most) then leave. I mean, these are pretty tame public houses for the most part (HB does get rowdier late--but I'd never bring my kid there then and have never seen any there those times). I see no problem whatever having kids in these places at these times.
ReplyDeleteHowever, if I want to go out at night and throw more than a few down, I go to Apex, Roscoe's, Bailey's or one of the many, many, bars that don't allow minors, ever. Or, just go to any of the places after kids are barred. It's that easy.
Reminds me of this aging cougar I overheard at the bar at Laurelwood a few weeks ago--she was drinking fucking cosmopolitans and bitching about the kids in the restaurant. Mind boggling. Do you know where you are? Why the fuck would anyone go there, not even to drink beer, then bitch about the presence of kids?
Oh well. Point being, I think there's plenty of room for both kinds of places.