my day at panera bread...

First off, I love Panera.   They have the best coffee and they have free wireless internet.  It's very cozy and I can just concentrate really well on homework whenever I go there.   I've made it a wednesday morning tradition to go :)   It's my incentive to wake up at 7am to get there by 8am.  I stayed there for a total of 5 hours today...I basically finished my Lifespan development paper due tomorrow and I finished writing up my page of notes for my Managing Organizational Behavior final tonight.     win!

Funny thing happened while I was there though.   Keep in mind that this Panera is located in Newport Beach...      I'm studying at my table and it's pretty busy because it's lunch time.  Soon three young ladies with their little children (one 1 yr old...and two 2 yr old boys) are finding themselves a seat in the middle of everyone.   The two 2 yr old boys are completely all over the place and the mothers aren't even paying attention.   I know that children need to be given the opportunity to explore under supervision, but these children were a little bit out of control.  First it was cute because they would go to people's table to say hi.   Then the mothers set the two boys at their own table...    these two children were already squirmy enough, how can one think that they can sit at a table by themselves?   

The  mothers are talking at their table and the boys at their table start crying LOUD.  and then they find the salt and paper shakers and basically spill it ALL over the table.   I saw the salt shaker completely fly off of the table and the top came off.   The boys were using the number holder to spread the spilled salt and pepper all around the table.   Oh ...and they're screaming and crying.  I'm trying not to stare...but I look at the mothers and they're just talking and slightly glancing at their children.    I heard them say "no" once.   And it's like they gave up and just let the children do their thing as they socialized.   

So many people take their lunch breaks at this Panera and these children were completely disruptive.  I don't blame the children at all (they're 2 yrs old), because I don't think they knew any better.   There was no one telling them that they were being disruptive.  I had a feeling that they have never been taught how to behave in a public environment.   Right now I'm taking a Lifespan Development class and we are learning all about how the environment has a huge effect on one's behavior later in life.    I have no doubt in my mind that these mother's absolutely adore their children, but from the way they were acting, it looked as though they had no idea on how to control their children.   It looked like they didn't even care how they were acting.   

If those were my children (which they never would be, because if my children were that disruptive we would never go to any public food place), I would have NOT placed them at their own table.   I would have left.   I would have had some concern for the other customers in Panera.   I saw people that were doing actual work...and I'm sure they were very distracted by crying and screams at the table next to them.  And then to see that there was no one there trying to stop them....well that made it even more maddening.   Um....hello?!   

That is NOT ok in my mind.