Original Coverage & Source Attribution: www.yahoo.com
A restaurant server has had enough of parents who let their children roam unattended. TikTok user Kellie With A IE, whose username is @ambryae, shared a video about a recent experience at the restaurant where she works. The video has garnered 746,200 views and 3,012 comments.
She begins by explaining what happened when a mother brought her 2-year-old child in for lunch. The toddler initially sat in a high chair, but the mother later took her out. The child then began running around the restaurant and even crawling on the floor.
For Kellie, that is usually the point when she approaches a parent to explain that restaurant floors are not safe for children. However, when she spoke to the mother, the woman dismissed her concerns, insisting that she knew what she was doing.
Meanwhile, the servers were growing increasingly frustrated as the toddler continued running around the restaurant. When the mother noticed Kellie watching the child, she told her toddler to sit back down. Kellie thought that would be the end of it.
However, 20 minutes later, she discovered that the toddler had gotten up again and was taking coasters from the server station, spreading them across the floor. The mother and her friend saw what was happening but continued their conversation as though nothing was wrong.
Kellie decided not to confront the mother again. Instead, she began picking up the coasters, causing the toddler to cry. The mother became upset and asked Kellie, “What are you doing? Don’t you see she’s playing with them? You can leave them right there. I’ll clean it up when we leave.”
Kellie stood her ground, explaining why she couldn’t leave the coasters scattered across the floor.
“I absolutely cannot. The baby could choke on a piece of paper. A server or a guest could walk and slip on these things and fall. I cannot leave these on the floor. Not only that, these are restaurant supplies. They aren’t toys,” she told the mother.
Although the mother explained that she and her friend were having an important business meeting and needed the toddler to stay occupied, Kellie refused to back down. She offered them paper and crayons to keep the child entertained, but the mother declined.
Ultimately, Kellie put the toddler back in the high chair, prompting the child to cry again.
Afterward, the mother asked whether Kellie could do anything about the bill because she felt the server had ruined their meeting. Kellie refused.
TikTok Users Are Shocked at the Mom’s Behavior
Comments on the video overwhelmingly sided with Kellie, with several users suggesting that the mother should have faced consequences for letting her toddler play with restaurant supplies.
One user wrote, “Definitely would have did something for her bill. Put the cost of those coasters on there.”
Many others expressed similar sentiments, suggesting that the mother should have been charged for the disruption or the coasters.
Other users pointed out how common it has become for some parents to expect strangers to supervise their children in public. “People genuinely think when they go out that everybody else in their vicinity are their free babysitters,” another user commented.
Others questioned why the mother had chosen a restaurant for a business meeting instead of an office. “Why didn’t they have an office where they could have ordered food?” one user asked.
The Daily Dot was unable to independently verify the details of the interactions described in the video, which was posted by Kellie With A *IE* (@ambryae) on TikTok.
