Usually I have a strong opinion about customer service issues, but this story is leaving people divided regarding whose side to take.
Background:
In Portland, Maine (where I will actually be visiting shortly), there's a breakfast place called Marcy's Diner. The owner is a brash, white trashy woman named Darla Neugebauer.
Let's just say that professionalism and softspokenness are not qualities which you would associate with her.
The collision course was in place when Tara Carson, her husband, and their 2-year-old child visited the diner. The Carsons are from New York, and were visiting Portland. I read a recent blog about the incident from Tara, and she strikes me as a bit oversensitive and perhaps the type of parent afraid to discipline her child.
The restaurant was very busy (it was a Saturday morning), and service was slow. The 2-year-old was making a lot of noise and fussing during the 40-minute wait for the food to arrive.
Darla approached the Carsons' table, didn't identify herself, and yelled, "Either she goes or you go!"
Tara Carson claimed she didn't know that was the owner, and thought it was just a rude patron. The 2-year-old kept crying, and Darla approached the table again, pointing her finger at the 2-year-old and yelling, "You need to shut the hell up!"
Tara's husband kind of acted like a bitch in the situation, simply asking, "Are you serious? Are you really yelling at a toddler right now?” Tara then told her 2-year-old daughter, "This is how we're raising you NOT to be!" (lol what???)
Here is Tara's account of the situation, which has mostly been verified by Darla the owner: https://www.washingtonpost.com/poste...what-happened/
Tara decided to come home and post a complaint on the Marcy's Diner facebook page:
Darla responded with a rambling answer, oddly enough focusing on the fact that the family ordered 3 pancakes for a 2-year-old:
She then followed up the next day, claiming that the Carsons let their child scream for over 30 minutes, and it was bothering the other diners:
Here is the Facebook page. Tara's original post has been deleted (not sure if by Tara or Darla): https://www.facebook.com/marcysdiner?fref=ts
Oddly enough, the reaction to this is pretty much split down the middle -- at least on the Facebook page, which now has 41,000+ likes. Some feel that Darla was uncouth white trash who had the nerve to scream in the face of someone else's child. Others applauded Darla's actions, expressing frustration with inconsiderate parents who let their unruly children ruin meals for everyone else.
My conclusions:
- Owner Darla is indeed uncouth white trash, and she had no right to scream "Shut the hell up!" in the face of someone else's 2-year-old. Like, seriously, someone should have smacked her for that, or at the very least, gotten right back in her face.
- From Tara's own account, she strikes me as someone with a passive, touchy-feely parenting style, who is afraid to disciline her kid. Benjamin is 4 and has always generally behaved well in restaurants, but like all young children, he's had a few bad moments. However, I have never just sat there and allowed him to act up. In the case of a 2-year-old (who often can't be reasoned with or convinced to calm down), you need to take the kid out and stop them from disturbing other people. Even if it's raining, you need to find somewhere to go to where the disturbance stops, especially if it's prolonged. I believe the claim that the kid was making a fuss for a long time, and I believe that's what set Darla off, as she got the (probably correct) impression that the parents didn't give a shit.
- Darla should have approached the Carsons, calmly identified herself as the owner, and asked them to take the kid outside if she continued to cry. "Either she goes, or you go" is a classless way to approach the situation, especially without even identifying yourself as the owner.
- Tara's husband acted like a bitch. When someone yells "You need to shut the hell up!" in your kid's face, you need to respond a bit more than, "Really? You're going to yell at a child?" And Tara's response of, "This is how we're raising you not to be" was also kind of lame. When someone treats your kid like that in their place of business, you need to stand up, make a scene, and make sure everyone else in the restaurant hears about what just happened.
- Darla's "3 pancake" rant is LOL. Who gives a shit if they ordered 3 pancakes for the kid? More money for Darla, then. This woman isn't right in the head, and definitely shouldn't be running a restaurant where she has to deal with customers. Reminds me of the Soup Nazi.
Overall I think both sides had fault here, but Darla the owner was far more in the wrong. It's just never okay to yell in the face of someone else's 2 year old. I hope one day this woman gets smacked for doing something like this.
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Originally Posted by 4Dragons
