Pizza Parlor (ST#5)

Sara and I were in Athens this past Monday, right in the middle of a torrential downpour at rush hour, which, as everyone knows, will cause the normally slow "rush" to deteriorate to a crawl.  As we topped the hill near the Varsity, it appeared that we would soon pass out of the rain, so I asked my bride if she'd like to stop for a pizza.  Our favorite pizza parlor isn't one of the national chains, but they have begun franchising, and could soon turn into a well known operation principally because their pizzas are far better than any of the offerings by other pizzerias.

We parked in front of a FedEx store and crossed the street to our restaurant of choice.  This is a place where you order your pizza from a wide list of options, watch them toss the dough, put on the toppings, and slide it into the oven, then get your beverage of choice and pay and proceed to a table.  Before you've had more than a sip or two, your pizza is delivered, hot and delicious.

I know there are pizza parlors and pizzerias that cater to families with lots of children.  There are even places that have kids games along the wall so that there will be other means of dragging money out of parents.  But this place isn't one of them.   The serve beer, some very good beer as a matter of fact, in an attempt at drawing the 21 and over crowd.   Last night my beverage of choice was an Octoberfest from a brewery in Colorado and it was tasty.

But the pleasure at having a tasty brew and a darned good pizza soon turned to dread.  About the same time we got to our table, two late-twenty-something mothers with four little girls attacked the dining area.  The four girls, ages perhaps 7 - 9, were sent to a booth and the mums retreated to a table by themselves.

I know, you've heard this before, but in my day, children who were taken to restaurants were expected to behave as adults.  At the first loud squeal, my sister would receive a stern rebuke in the form of a frown and she's immediately remember where she was and act accordingly.  If I fidgeted to any excess at the Riverside Restaurant while waiting for my plate of clams, an abrupt ahem from my father put a stop to that right quick.  The four little girls in the restaurant on Monday night were not corrected one bit.  In fact, the mothers, obviously immune to their daughters' poor behavior, all but ignored them.

When their pizzas were delivered, the giggling and squealing stopped.  For a moment.  Then, as the four untamed and untrained little girls began devouring their meal, the noise level turned right back up.  Mothers by then were absorbed in their own meal and never gave as much as another glance to their badly behaving progeny.

Just as I was trying to keep myself from asking the mothers to take control of their offspring, another group came in, this one with a mix of little boys and girls.   These kids immediately went to a table or booth behind me and began playing noisily.  The adults, up to six or more in count, stood next to where we were eating and talked until the last of the entourage finally arrived.  One of that group, obviously a proud gandma, kept looking over at the increasingly noisy bunch of children, an act that gave me hope that she would quiet the ruckus.  But it was not to be.  When she finally got the attention of the child (or children), she grinned wide and shouted, "Hi sweetie" across the room, as if she were on a playground.  At one point, a little boy crawled beneath a table next to as as if it were a play fort.

Mothers and fathers, it is your responsibility to teach proper behavior to your children.  It is your responsibility to exact proper behavior when you and your children are in public together.  It is your responsibility to ensure your children act properly even when you are not with them.

Restaurateurs, it is your responsibility to create a place that is comfortable for all your patrons.  If you want to compete with places that serve pizza as a side for electronic games and the like, advertise yourself that way.  My wife and I will visit our favorite pizza place again because we figure that the happenings this past Monday were an anomaly and our next visit will be as pleasurable as the ones prior to this past Monday.

But, rest assured, our taste for pizza will not survive many visits like the one I've described.  There are other places and other choices.  If I can't find a tasty pizza, I could always turn to another favorite Athens-area phenomenon, a pasta parlor that also recently began franchising.