Brooklyn Bar-Baby Debate Goes National
A debate that will be familiar to any resident of Brownstone Brooklyn—whether or not children should be allowed in bars—was elevated to the national spotlight when CNN picked up an old thread on Brooklynian and a more recent story in The Courier this week about how the Windsor Terrace bar Double Windsor had banned babies after 5 p.m. “We are Windsor Terrace and Park Slope parents like everyone else,” one of the owners told The Courier. “But the bottom like is that this is a bar, and most of our customers feel like it’s not an appropriate place for kids after hours.” A single father profiled in the CNN story, however, contends that a little common sense and moderation are all that are needed for peace and harmony: "I'm not going to keep her out past 7 p.m. When the bar starts filling up, that's when we head home...I'm not knocking back double vodkas while my daughter is stumbling around." We'll confess to having taken our school-age kids to Radegast for an occasional late-afternoon beer on the weekends, though like the guy in the CNN story, we've certainly never stayed past 7 p.m. and it's always been combined with buying the kids dinner.
Brooklyn Brewhaha: Babies in Bars [CNN]
Photo from Babble.com
115 Comments
By Butterfly on March 3, 2010 9:38 AM
By nystrele on March 3, 2010 9:39 AM
wrote about this on my blog last night:
http://chucktaylorblog.blogspot.com/2010/03/newsmakers-random-thoughts.html
By eh on March 3, 2010 9:43 AM
Bring back smoking in bars. Problem solved.
Honestly I could care less if someone brings their kid to a bar as long as they don't expect me to adjust my behavior. But I do wonder what ever happened to babysitters.
By Biff Champion on March 3, 2010 9:43 AM
Lots of interesting comments on this story on CNN, oOne of which I posted yesterday in the OT and am posting again below:
"Oh for the love of god. The father in this picture is exactly what's wrong with America. Just look at him. Look at those crazy eyes. You can tell he leans so far left he's nearly fallen over. But with that comes all the pseudo-intellectual pomposity and confusion that these clowns suffer from, which is why he just can't understand that his baby doesn't belong in the freaking bar. I say this as someone who voted for Clinton, voted for Nader, voted for Kerry, and then wrote myself for the 2008 election because I'm sick of them all. I just can't look at him any longer. He makes me angry. The eyes, the eyes say it all. The eyes suggest a confused morality. A confused everything. I would not want him raising me. He probably subscribes to Wine Spectator but mispronounces Sauvignon. He probably orders "Cab" so as not to reveal his ignorance with mispronounced French. He probably orders white wine because it's chilled.
On the other hand, it looks like a really nice bar. Maybe I'll visit someday."
By eh on March 3, 2010 9:45 AM
I thought the same thing Biff. I'll summarize: the guy looks like a douche.
By Butterfly on March 3, 2010 9:46 AM
quote:
Bring back smoking in bars. Problem solved.
oh yeah i mentioned that yesterday too... personally id rather not. im a smoker but at the same time it that bars are smoke free (tho i feel like some bars should totally be smoking if they want to). no problem with going outside for a smoke, and it gets nasty indoors when there's a gazillion people smoking.
*rob*
By Butterfly on March 3, 2010 9:47 AM
quote:
But I do wonder what ever happened to babysitters.
lol, they morphed into high price nannies. who calls themself a baby sitter these days besides Princess Superstar!?
*rob*
By DeLepp on March 3, 2010 9:48 AM
Matt Gross's worst offence is that he's a little odd looking. As long as baby not in there at 9PM and he's not falling down drunk not sure what all the hoopla is about. Taverns are meeting places. These 20 something's who are mad need to get a grip.
"But the overwhelming clientele that spends quite a lot of money here can't deal with babies."
"I long for adult contact. ... I don't want to be excluded from the adult world."
Both quotes make me sad.
By IronBalls on March 3, 2010 9:48 AM
Anything that brings more large breasts to the mix is fine with me.
Yup, pervert in the house.
By Brokedeveloper on March 3, 2010 9:49 AM
Its kind of up to the individual bar to set the rules as far as I'm concerned. I take no issue with any bar's stand one way or the other. I don't see any real public safety issues here.
If a bar doesn't have a rule and customers leave because of it, then that is the consequence of not having a rule. On the other hand bars and restaurants that serve food are dying for 2pm-6pm business, so I doubt many will kick out the stroller crowd any time soon.
By Brownstones Half Off on March 3, 2010 9:49 AM
"most of our customers feel like it’s not an appropriate place for kids after hours"
What about you? How do YOU feel?
Bars and babies are no-no's. What's to discuss?
***Bid half off peak comps***
By BSD on March 3, 2010 9:51 AM
Another blown out of proportion story. I've only seen kids/babies in a bar less than 1% of the times I've gone. The kids were behaved, and nobody adjusted their behavior (cursing, loud talking). That said, I do question the parents' judgement in bringing their kid to a bar where there was cursing/loud talking, plus they (parent) all were drinking, and w/o their spouse....bring your effing designated caregiver.
By donatella on March 3, 2010 9:53 AM
I am in total agreement with the person Biff quoted. I love it, funny, sounds like my father, who has a brain.
By Butterfly on March 3, 2010 9:54 AM
parents should be worried about baby snatchers and baby switchers.. if it's a dimly lit bar, i could totally picturing a couple coming in with a baby they dont like anymore and switching it with one they like better!
*rob*
By Butterfly on March 3, 2010 9:55 AM
i think that may have happened to me btw :-0
*rob*
By donatella on March 3, 2010 9:56 AM
Actually, not exactly like my father reading it again, my father voted for Kerry and doesn't say "freaking," but My God, I really think that bringing a kid to a bar is ridiculous and I would not go to that bar and if I owned the bar, I would throw the guy out. With the kid, although the kid probably has more sense then him. That is also why I don't like Park Slope, because this is even a point of discussion.
By Arkady on March 3, 2010 9:56 AM
As long as the 'rents keep the kids under control & don't try to dictate the behavior of other patrons I don't mind. I've seen a few, though, who think they don't have to watch over their rambunctious offspring & that's a drag for everyone else - patrons & bartenders.
By WBer on March 3, 2010 9:59 AM
As a parent and former bartender, I feel the same way about babies in bars as I do about dogs and drunks in bars - there's a time and place for everything, and when that time is done, please leave quietly. In the meantime, behave yourself and don't be offended when the people around start acting like they're in a bar. And if babies (or drunks or dogs) in the bar offend you, find another bar.
Kids are another thing - once they start walking, they have no place in a bar. Restaurants OK (yes, including Radegast - you're alright there Brownstoner), but not bars.
And yeah, this was never an issue when smoking was allowed in bars.
By IronBalls on March 3, 2010 9:59 AM
Somebody should retaliate and open a bar across the street called MILF.
I guarantee MILF will be the more popular bar; and I never guarantee anything, believe me.
By Johnny on March 3, 2010 10:00 AM
Absolutely nothing wrong with a well behaved kid in a bar during non-peak hours. That's how the rest of the world does things.
Live in the Slope and only time I've ever had a problem with the stroller mafia set was actually in the Heights.
By eh on March 3, 2010 10:01 AM
"I long for adult contact. ... I don't want to be excluded from the adult world."
The guy has a problem if he thinks that the totality of the adult world exists in a bar.
By Butterfly on March 3, 2010 10:02 AM
quote:
That is also why I don't like Park Slope, because this is even a point of discussion.
it is NOT just park slope this is an issue with. park slope just happens to get a lot of the press about bad yuppie behavior. this happens all over the place, it's also a huge issue in montclair nj lol.
*rob*
By CHMomma on March 3, 2010 10:04 AM
The comments to the CNN article are pure entertainment. Personally, I had brought my son to a bar when he was younger but stopped....'cause it just ain't the same anymore.
Total appropo of nothing....when I was little, my Mom would tell me to never look inside windows or doors of bars because someone would come out and grab me.
By WTbound on March 3, 2010 10:06 AM
I have 2 kids and have very rarely taken them to bars. BUT Double Windsor is the only place to get a decent burger over here in WT and I'd like the option of going with my 6 yo at 5 pm to get a burger and a pint (for me). The place is empty then and if they are offering all this delicious food in an area that is woefully underserved in the food department, seems silly to me to ban kids at 5 pm. 7 makes more sense, and I've never taken a kid out that late anyway.
Whatever, it is totally within the establishment's right to make these sorts of rules and I will certainly continue to go to Double Windsor as I like it there. But it's too bad they picked such an early cut-off, IMO
By WTbound on March 3, 2010 10:07 AM
Oh and I find it annoying that the CNN story does not mention the food angle at Double Windsor. Because it really does change the debate, I think.
By ftgreenepark on March 3, 2010 10:12 AM
exactly...leave it to the establishment to decide.
By Butterfly on March 3, 2010 10:12 AM
totally wtbound. i dont even consider bars that serve food real bars anyway.
*rob*
By donatella on March 3, 2010 10:12 AM
I took my nephew to a bar in the Village once when he was about 11. I didn't realize that it was a bar, actually, and we went in for something to "drink", i.e. cappucino for me and a soda for him and it was clearly more of a bar, than a restaurant. That was 10 years ago and it is one of his fond memories of me. I still think kids in bars are wrong though.
By gemini10 on March 3, 2010 10:14 AM
hmmm this is an interesting topic
I agree with other posters that keeping it to moderation is ok and the parents really shouldn't expect other patrons to change their behaviour just becuase some baby is now there in the bar. I think it's a non-issue if the bar is open during the day to diners as well as drinkers and the kids/babies are gone by 7pm when the real "meet&greet" scene settles in to whoop it up.
the funny thing for me is that my father (parents were divorced) often took me to his bar in Jackson Hts on the way to his house in the middle of the afternoon. I suppose I was usually taken to the bar with him from the age of 7-12. He was a "regular" and most of his bar buddies were people he'd known for decades and I had known since birth, so it made sense for him to stop in, have a beer, say hello and then leave 20 mins later. I would play the 1 lone video game they had and drink my shirley temple. OH well, that was a Differnt time and different type of people
By Butterfly on March 3, 2010 10:15 AM
kids and babies on the subway are actually way more of a scourge than ones in bars.
*rob*
By wine lover on March 3, 2010 10:18 AM
weird that you said radegast - why does that place seem perfectly appropriate for kids in the afternoon? is it the european thing? funny.
anyway, when my kid was an infant we would have dinner out while baby slept the whole time. after that ended, then we stopped going out at night with kid. agree tho if you split by 7, who cares? i grew up in a time where the local pub serving food was just as much a place for a family as the catholic church, so i do remember being in lots of pubs as a kid even tho my parents were not big drinkers.
By bfarwell on March 3, 2010 10:19 AM
"I feel the same way about babies in bars as I do about dogs and drunks in bars - there's a time and place for everything, and when that time is done, please leave quietly"
That is possibly the most intelligent thing I've seen on this issue. Buy that man a drink.
We've got a baby, and we occasionally go to bars for some escape from being at home or at work. We take the kid, we have a couple drinks, and if the kid starts to make his presence known, we split. (Nobody wants a crying baby in a bar, much as nobody wants an unruly drunk or incessantly barking dog.)
Bars/taverns/pubs/what-have-you are social places, and as long as you're not tone-deaf to who that society is made up of and what they're expecting (babies in a strip club seem like a poor idea, much like bachelorette parties in a gay bar... though both seem to occur with some frequency).
I would probably also initially agree (not having had an applicable kid yet) that 'youths' are better served by the pub/food kind of place. Though giant loungey bars (union hall, etc.) seem fair game.
Perhaps instead of bringing back smoking (please, god, no) we should just make it easy for coffeeshops to serve beer and wine? Then your parents could unwind somewhere and have a drink, their kids could sit on the sofa and mash muffins into the cushions, and it would just be the laptop wielding future screenwriters of america who got pissy.
By Heather on March 3, 2010 10:19 AM
Surprisingly, perhaps, I haven't been following this that closely, but Double Windsor no longer lets in kids after 5PM, is that right?
The Brooklyn Public House on Dekalb attempted to set that policy about a year ago... but they've since taken it back. Most of their table business (from what I've seen anyways) involves a stroller or two. On the weekends, the German beer place on Fulton is packed with kids -- at least one per table, surrounded by a bevy of relatives, or their parent's college friends. Once I even saw what looked like a kid's birthday party.
Of course, as someone who once held her best friend's baby shower AT a bar (the Abbey...), I don't have a problem with this. I mean, I am probably part of the problem.
But look -- I went to bars with my parents in the seventies. The food was much better than at the anti-nuclear power protests that we also attended. When we make the yearly pilgrimage to Ireland, the pubs are packed with families. It is a non-issue. Have a burger, tea, a pint, some crayons and a coloring book for the kid and -- done. Why is this news? Because some twit thinks it's cutting into their social life? Because some breeding twit thinks no one should smoke in the outdoor garden at Soda? Eh.
Then again, I always used to bring my dog to bars too. Like I said, I'm sure I'm part of the problem.
By Butterfly on March 3, 2010 10:20 AM
quote:
I would play the 1 lone video game they had and drink my shirley temple.
that is Exactly what i did!!! the shirley temple (so gay sounding for a boy to drink...) what exactly was it? just soda right? i think with a cherry?
*rob*
By Heather on March 3, 2010 10:21 AM
Shirley temple is grenadine and ginger ale with a cherry.
Uh, so I've heard.
By Butterfly on March 3, 2010 10:24 AM
quote:
"babies in a strip club seem like a poor idea, much like bachelorette parties in a gay bar... though both seem to occur with some frequency"
lol. never heard of bachelorette parties in gay bars, but yeah a lot of strippers do actually take their babies to work. a lot of strip clubs actually have on site sitters for them! it's kinda sad, but a woman's gotta do what a woman's gotta do!
*rob*
By daveinbedstuy on March 3, 2010 10:25 AM
Dirty Frank's in Philly allows both kids and dogs in the bar. generally the patrons enjoy the dogs being there moreso than any kids.
By Petebklyn on March 3, 2010 10:26 AM
1st they want to ban the kids. Next, no elderly in wheelchairs.
By IronBalls on March 3, 2010 10:26 AM
Is it just me, or does the back of that kid's head look more like a balding old midget than a baby's?
This whole thing could be a ruse put on by liberal midgets looking to "change the subject."
I'm not sure what I meant by that either. . .
By Heather on March 3, 2010 10:28 AM
Dirty Franks was kind enough to admit me with obviously fake id centuries ago, so they will always have a soft spot in my heart. A bar for babies, dogs and teens! What could go wrong?
Have they remodeled or is it still kind of, well, dirty?
By Crownlfc on March 3, 2010 10:28 AM
Many bars these days are not the smoke filled, profane laden, seedy ones of yesteryear. I suspect many bars are much more pleasant than some of the restaurants and coffee houses I've visited.
Is it the first place I would take a kid, probably not, it depends on the individual environment, time etc, etc.
By Butterfly on March 3, 2010 10:28 AM
i <3 bar dogs. they are so much fun!!!
*rob*
By gemini10 on March 3, 2010 10:30 AM
haha - it seems most of us are in agreement
nice!
I think dogs in bars would be fun - but not annoying snappy barky dogs
YEs shirley temples are gingerale with grenadine syrup and a maraschino cherry
it's supposed to look like a "cocktail" - hahaha!
By daveinbedstuy on March 3, 2010 10:31 AM
Heather, nothing changes at DF's
By White and Proud in PLG on March 3, 2010 10:31 AM
There are bars and then there are bars. There are some bars where a spilled drink or a quarrel between lovers is about as racy as it gets. Then there are bars where people are doing lines in the bathroom, groping each other and occasionally getting a BJ under the table. Babies will be fine in most of the bars falling into the first category described above. Babies will probably not be fine in the category two bars. It's fine with me if we leave it up to the bar owners to decide. It's also fine with me if we ban babies from bars. I personally don't like babies and don't want to see them, but it's not a big deal to me either way.
By Petebklyn on March 3, 2010 10:33 AM
"Many bars these days are not the smoke filled, profane laden, seedy ones of yesteryear. I suspect many bars are much more pleasant than some of the restaurants and coffee houses I've visited."
-- that must be reason I don't go to bars anymore.
By mopar on March 3, 2010 10:39 AM
I was brought to bars as a child! And most notably sometimes had to wait outside them. So it's not some new yuppie stroller thing. What is different is moms now go to bars. That didn't really start until the 1970s.
By nems on March 3, 2010 10:41 AM
I'm going to throw this bomb out. I have no issue with children in bars as long as they are well behaved. Some parents (stressing some) let their kids run rampant without any regard for other patrons. If kids are running around acting like the drunks that are out of control later in the evening, they should be chucked.
I think the difference between back in the day when our parents might have taken us to a bar was that if we misbehaved we'd get a beating (verbal or physical) if we got out of line.
By daveinbedstuy on March 3, 2010 10:41 AM
I think that if gay bars brought back "dark rooms" in the back or downstairs I'd be more inclined to go.
By Boerum Hill on March 3, 2010 10:44 AM
I'm a parent and never brought my kids to a bar. I don't mind if a parent brings an infant (no toddlers) to a bar early in the evening. When the bar begins to fill up, the infant belongs at home.
My personal pet peeve is people who can't let go of their cellphones in a bar. Walked into a neighborhood spot the other day and saw that literally every single person had their cellphone sitting on top of the bar. Even people who looked like they were on dates!
By mopar on March 3, 2010 10:48 AM
IronBalls, that MILF bar idea is completely brilliant.
By Butterfly on March 3, 2010 10:49 AM
people used to develop photographs in gay bars!?
*rob*
By tiptoe on March 3, 2010 10:51 AM
I think perhaps a side issue here is that certain parents don't take it upon themselves to either discipline their toddlers/children OR teach them how to act properly in a public place OR remove them from said public place when the child acts up. This does not seem to be a problem in countries such as Ireland, where kids don't go around screaming like banshees without some serious parental repercussions. So, perhaps these bad eggs have gone ahead and forged a not-so-nice reputation that now applies to all parents of young kids?
And though it doesn't seem fair, sometimes we need these hard and fast rules like no kids after 5 p.m. only because the other alternative is for the manager or owner to selectively turn away people with kids that they have sized up to be "trouble." I can guarantee there would be some huge stink about that!
By goldie on March 3, 2010 10:53 AM
2nd IronBalls proposal. Korova Milf Bar in the slope please.
By daveinbedstuy on March 3, 2010 10:54 AM
people used to develop photographs in gay bars!?
*rob*
Posted by: Butterfly at March 3, 2010 10:49 AM
No but there were a lot of "exposures"
By gemini10 on March 3, 2010 10:56 AM
Tiptoe:
couldn't agree more
I think this article raises the question of modern discipline. It seems many of us adults were brought to bars without issue as kids back in the 70's and 80's probably becaure we were well behaved and didn't run around like "banshees". a lot of parents nowawdays have trouble disciplining their children especially in public places!
By bessie2 on March 3, 2010 10:56 AM
It amazes me when parents bring toddlers to bar bars. It just seems so inappropriate. I have been in at least one place in Park Slope where there was critical mass of strollers and little ones running around. Aren't there other better places for them to go?
And don't get me started on late night R-Movies. What an awful venue for 3 year olds.
By Petebklyn on March 3, 2010 11:01 AM
"It just seems so inappropriate" --
geez, does that sound so victorian middle-class morals police or what? Can see folks sitting around drinking tea and discussing this with pursed lips.
By Heather on March 3, 2010 11:02 AM
I usually get dirty looks from the other parents when I tell the moppet to sit down and behave, or there will be no tv later.
By IMBY on March 3, 2010 11:04 AM
My father used to bring me to the Local Legion Hall when I was a kid. But I was responsible for my age and always tipped the bar tender with MY allowance money. 25¢ Andekers... The beginning of my end.
By daveinbedstuy on March 3, 2010 11:06 AM
Heather...I'd love to see a fight break out in a Park Slope bar because some parent spanked his kid in front of other parent!!! I' d pay to watch that.
By IronBalls on March 3, 2010 11:17 AM
My parents never brought me to bars. I wish they had. My father used to take me to a neighborhood diner when my mother was out where we ate terrible overcooked hamburgers. I would have loved a cold beer to wash the greasy burnt grill taste away.
At the age of six or seven it didn't cross my mind.
By dirty_hipster on March 3, 2010 11:20 AM
if someone opened a baby friendly bar on 5th avenue it would kill. who's down?
By DitmasSnark on March 3, 2010 11:23 AM
If babies are allowed in Park Slope bars, then I should be allowed to drink in the 3rd Street playground.
Fair is fair.
By gemini10 on March 3, 2010 11:25 AM
If babies are allowed in Park Slope bars, then I should be allowed to drink in the 3rd Street playground.
Fair is fair.
Posted by: DitmasSnark at March 3, 2010 11:23 AM
HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA - now that's funny...and oddly on point?!
By Petebklyn on March 3, 2010 11:28 AM
You can (and maybe do) drink in the playground. Just don't be a adult male in playground alone. You need to have a kid escort you. Same as bars, kids need an adult escort.
By IronBalls on March 3, 2010 11:28 AM
The problem with the baby-friendly bar idea is that hardcore alcoholics (aka all night drinkers) pay the bar's bills, not folks stopping in for two beers before bedtime.
Having a baby-friendly "happy hour," on the other hand might be a good way for a slow bar to pick up some afternoon business.
By dirty_hipster on March 3, 2010 11:33 AM
happy hour is a good idea
By Heather on March 3, 2010 11:35 AM
I would need a xanax before going to the Third Street playground, so drinking there seems fine. I've been at birthday parties at the PS 11 playground with beer. (Sadly, Coors in cans... but perhaps the can thing is understandable. No one wants broken glass in a playground!)
By Heather on March 3, 2010 11:36 AM
Speakeasy was doing the happy hour thing in the fall -- I kept meaning to go.
By Butterfly on March 3, 2010 11:37 AM
quote:
If babies are allowed in Park Slope bars, then I should be allowed to drink in the 3rd Street playground.
OMG that is awesome!!!!!!!!! totally true. wtf, why is the Sprinklers in the park on 5th avenue in park slope, No Adults Admitted without Children!?!?! adults like to frolick in the sprinklers too (no paedo) too!! up in harlem there was no such rule and it was never a problem! no one wants to steal your little brats, believe me!
*rob*
By DitmasSnark on March 3, 2010 11:38 AM
> You need to have a kid escort you.
Done.
- http://images.teamsugar.com/files/upl0/10/109609/10_2008/instant.jpg
By wasder on March 3, 2010 11:55 AM
Bars and babies are fine before 6:00 PM in my opinion. I have many times taken my daughter to a bar on a sunny day in the summer and sat at a sidewalk table and had a beer while she enjoys juice. I would not take her to an indoor only bar and sidle up to the bar with her. To me this should be solvable by common sense but I guess everyone has a different sense for what that is.
By infinitejester on March 3, 2010 11:58 AM
Yeah, people who sit at a bar facing into the myriad liquor bottles and just brood...I don't get. If you can't read or watch a game or sit with friends and talk, what's the point?
By Joe from Brooklyn on March 3, 2010 12:06 PM
IronBalls, that MILF bar idea is completely brilliant.
Posted by: mopar at March 3, 2010 10:48 AM
Yes it is.
By Joe from Brooklyn on March 3, 2010 12:13 PM
Re: Milf Bar
I can't think of a better way to bring horny young men in their twenties and thirties together with hot, still ripe mommies in their thirties and forties. Like nature intended.
Ladies, now that's where you want your bachelorette party.
By Ahh beer on March 3, 2010 12:14 PM
How civilized (this discussion)!
By daveinbedstuy on March 3, 2010 12:24 PM
Yeah, people who sit at a bar facing into the myriad liquor bottles and just brood...I don't get. If you can't read or watch a game or sit with friends and talk, what's the point?
Posted by: infinitejester at March 3, 2010 11:58 AM
Alcoholism?
By broooklyn on March 3, 2010 12:27 PM
I guess I wouldn't mind seeing a baby in a bar, early evening, if she was sitting there quietly on her parent's lap. But a screaming baby, or one that runs up to people, would just destroy the relaxed atmosphere that I seek tipping back a beer in a bar with friends.
Therefore, since some but not all babies do this, it seems like you would have to have an overall ban on babies instead of just telling some parents "Sir, you have to remove your baby because it's screaming and drowning out conversation," while letting others stay.
A bar is a place where adults go to get away and relax. Maybe some bars would do good business by being "baby friendly" in a place like Park Slope, while it would hurt others' business. I wouldn't keep going to a bar that always had crying babies at its tables.
By dirty_hipster on March 3, 2010 12:30 PM
Yeah, people who sit at a bar facing into the myriad liquor bottles and just brood...I don't get. If you can't read or watch a game or sit with friends and talk, what's the point?
Posted by: infinitejester at March 3, 2010 11:58 AM
perhaps they are thinking?
By Butterfly on March 3, 2010 12:31 PM
quote:
If you can't read or watch a game or sit with friends and talk, what's the point?
getting shi+faced and pontifating how much your life sucks?
*rob*
By DeLepp on March 3, 2010 12:35 PM
"Yeah, people who sit at a bar facing into the myriad liquor bottles and just brood...I don't get. If you can't read or watch a game or sit with friends and talk, what's the point?"
Sometimes you just don't know what to have next.
By goldie on March 3, 2010 12:36 PM
"If you can't read or watch a game or sit with friends and talk, what's the point?"
I do some of my best work-related thinking that way. Have come up with creative solutions/ideas.
By DitmasSnark on March 3, 2010 12:39 PM
> Yeah, people who sit at a bar... and just brood.
Better to brood at the bar than bring your brood to the bar.
By infinitejester on March 3, 2010 12:41 PM
I face outwards and look out the window when I think. I hate when the bartender talks to me. For life sucks recaps, I cry at home.
By daveinbedstuy on March 3, 2010 12:41 PM
Where did the phrase "shit faced" come from???
By dirty_hipster on March 3, 2010 12:48 PM
I face outwards and look out the window when I think. I hate when the bartender talks to me. For life sucks recaps, I cry at home.
Posted by: infinitejester at March 3, 2010 12:41 PM
Haha - if you talk to the bartender chances are you'll get some free booze.
I changed my mind - i'm cool with babies in bars, just as long as they are cool. i'm totally gonna rock my kid in a bar one day - in one of those baby backpacks.
By Butterfly on March 3, 2010 12:49 PM
i think it's when you get so drunk you wind up puking in a toilet without realizing the last person forgot to flush their turd?
*rob*
By daveinbedstuy on March 3, 2010 12:54 PM
Most free booze comes because you leave a good tip. Babies, to my knowledge, aren't good tippers.
By Brokedeveloper on March 3, 2010 1:00 PM
"Babies, to my knowledge, aren't good tippers."
That e-Trade baby always tips his caddy after he takes $20 off of shankapotomus.
By daveinbedstuy on March 3, 2010 1:06 PM
Yeah, Broke, but all his friends are diaper-wetting whiners.
By daveinbedstuy on March 3, 2010 1:08 PM
Shankapotamus ad...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pRPRVTQl6Sc
By daveinbedstuy on March 3, 2010 1:09 PM
My new favorite..."my shocked face."
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hpjHBbtcGE0&NR=1
By mopar on March 3, 2010 1:10 PM
I mean, what's new is that WOMEN (not moms) go to bars. White women, that is. Still not common in hispanic bars.
Lots of stories from my mom and grandmas about the first (or the only) time they went into a bar and what happened.
One of my grandmothers used to fetch beer in a pail from a bar for her dad when she was 6 or 8. Does that count?
By bkbornandbred on March 3, 2010 1:20 PM
I have 2 lil ones and live right near the Dbl W. I keep hoping they will use one of those big windows as a walk-up take out so I can get some grub.
When that Katie's Gift Shop closes down, throw up MILF bar. I'll be the first in line. Getting totaly split-pea may be a poor parenting move, but sometimes one stiff drink is just want a mama needs to NOT kill her kids.
I think it'll be amazing to have an intersection where 3 out of 4 corners have bars, each serving a different demographic.
A darkroom might work...glory holes with lactating boobs?
By ProfRobert on March 3, 2010 1:21 PM
Children in bars should be like anything else in life -- handled with courtesy and common sense. Our 17-month-old is the mellowest kid you can imagine, and we've been taking him to restaurants since he was a few months old. But we go early (the child does have a bedtime, after all), and if it's not immediately obvious the place is child-friendly, we ask if it's ok to bring the baby in (and we've never once been told no). On the rare occasions that he gets cranky and starts crying, we take him outside so as not to disturb the other customers. If everyone simply were courteous and thoughtful, and didn't have an entitlement complex, everything would be a lot more pleasant.
By traditionalmod on March 3, 2010 1:54 PM
Sure way to make sure your kid becomes a raging alcoholic when he goes away to college - don't let him grow up watching his parents and other grownups drink responsibly like it's normal and no big deal. As many posting from the UK and EU on the CNN article say, it's not unusual at all to see babies and children in pubs there. They don't get it. As usual, the USA falls on the puritanical side of the debate. There's also such a creepy culture here towards moms especially, making them feel guilty if they're not at home with the baby day and night having no fun at all.
By Petebklyn on March 3, 2010 2:04 PM
obviously ProfRobert would stick out like a sore thumb in Park Slope with that sort of parental behavior.
By cillmylandlord_again on March 3, 2010 2:10 PM
I've asked several of my friends this question...this is a regional thing in my opinion. You find this in NY and in Europe. You won't find this in the South. You'd be looked down upon.
If there is no food...the baby should not be in the bar. It's a way for parents to attempt to still hang out with their single or friends with no parents. I go to bars with no food...and the kids show up and it totally changes the mood. It's only cool to the parents and the grandparents.
By Butterfly on March 3, 2010 2:11 PM
QUOTE:
"glory holes with lactating boobs?"
ugh. that horrific image is not permanently scarred on my brain. thanks! :-/
*rob*
By siIluvBK on March 3, 2010 2:14 PM
Clearly no one below the legal age for drinking alcohol should be in a bar. The thought of this is absurd. Can I bring my dog to the bar!?
By cillmylandlord_again on March 3, 2010 2:23 PM
I go to a bar that has dogs and babies...it's so annoying. It's like the opposite of fun. The only thing is the dogs just lay on floor and take up too much space and the ass owners don't move them, so you have to damn near jump over them to get to the bathroom.
The owners of the babies think it soooo cool that they can finally get out to get a Stella with their friends. What they don't see is how relieved their friends are when the baby finally gets to be to much and they have to leave. More should crack down on that...it's not like their losing money by not letting babies in bars. They're annoying the real customers.
By Brokedeveloper on March 3, 2010 2:41 PM
"I go to a bar that has dogs and babies...it's so annoying. It's like the opposite of fun."
Then why do you, like, go?
By bkbornandbred on March 3, 2010 2:43 PM
Poo mist payback.
By jessibaby on March 3, 2010 2:45 PM
Lol, bkbornandbred.
By jessibaby on March 3, 2010 2:55 PM
"There's also such a creepy culture here towards moms especially, making them feel guilty if they're not at home with the baby day and night having no fun at all."
I totally agree. some of my female friends feel as if they need to stop having fun and then make war with their husbands that didn't get the memo. I keep offering to babysit so they can go out and party together but get turned down.
By daveinbedstuy on March 3, 2010 3:04 PM
I oftentimes hang out with guys half my age. Sometimes that feels like having a child in tow.
By Legion on March 3, 2010 3:06 PM
...I like to push the envelope of societal standards,
so I've not only been bringing the toddler to the local pub,( the carriage helps to keep me from stumbling afterwards)
but on occassion, I have been known to bring a
six pack of bud to the pre-school open house/parent night.
I mean, they make you wait in the hallway for like an hour, might as well make it interesting.
...the looks I get!
It's as if I had two heads.
By Biff Champion on March 3, 2010 3:23 PM
"I keep offering to babysit so they can go out and party together but get turned down."
Jessi, what time can you come over Saturday to watch The Champs?
:-)
By jessibaby on March 3, 2010 3:30 PM
Biff, I'd babysit, but I hear you don't have a fridge, let alone any food in it.
By cillmylandlord_again on March 3, 2010 3:32 PM
That was a great question! Love it:). I love the bartender and the drinks and the bar is so cute...and I'm hoping my surly looks will stop the nonsense! And I get it. You don't the coolness factor to go away. Seriously, though...if there is no food, the baby should not be in the bar. Bars are for grownups. It has nothing to do with teaching your kid to be a better adult, that's foolywag. It's parental indulgence.
By Biff Champion on March 3, 2010 4:21 PM
"Biff, I'd babysit, but I hear you don't have a fridge, let alone any food in it."
LMAO!! Well we have a fridge and well stocked cupboards now. Just the icemaker isn't working, so you'll have to drink your mixed drinks luke warm.
By daveinbedstuy on March 3, 2010 4:34 PM
Biff, another defective fridge or haven't you gotten your toolbelt out yet?
By mopar on March 3, 2010 5:41 PM
Legion, LOL.
Note Biff does not bring his kids to the Stoner meetups. Wonder why.
By Heather on March 3, 2010 10:35 PM
Cillmylandlord, you have to tell us the bar. Come on... babies and dogs, I am so there. I want a dog to play with the moppet. (Sadly, husband disagrees, we are in negotiations.)
One thing I have begun to learn is that the bloom of bringing the wee ones to a pub falls off the rose when the wee ones develop opinions. The one and only time the moppet came to a stoner gathering she was really upset, because we'd told her it was a party and yet there were no balloons, no cake, and no other moppets to play with. I'm assuming this only gets worse the older they get... until they learn to read quietly in the corner?
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we talked a lot about this in ot, and the thread coverage post yesterday, but here's my opinion on this im going to hold my actualy opinion on the baby issue in bars until i actually experience this in a negative way. then ill whine whine whine whine like everyone does these days on the internet about some little 1 year old who gave me the stink eye as i was getting my drink.
also, as weird is at might sound coming from my mouth (fingers) i think a lot of the babies in bars comments are coming from people who are jealous their parents didnt bring them to bars as kids and instead forced them to sit in a Denny's or dropped off with a baby babysitter.. perhaps cuz i was brought to them as a kid (but not as a baby, moreso when i was like 10) this is one kid issue i dont seem to have a problem with, it seems normal. granted, it HAS to be the appropriate bar... 3pm at some random bar that serves food is very different than a hook up joint type bar or a bar in williamsburg where skanks are doing key bumps of coke in the bathroom..
also i cant imagine that many parents WILL do this or actually do it. dont know that many people. plus (be honest child-free people), whenever you hear from friends that they are pregnant or expecting you say congrats aloud, but inside youre like damn, dont wanna be hanging out with that person anymore! most single child-less people i know do not enjoy hanging out with new parents, and im sure it's vice versa, so maybe the bar is a happy medium? as long as the babies arent in your face and there's no diaper changing on top of the Ms pac man machine, i see no real problem.
*rob*