I Saw A Baby...In A Bar

This past Saturday night, I had a lovely dinner with six of my favorite friends.  Our reservation was for 8 p.m. and we managed to arrive right on time, a rarity.  We started the night with some champagne (it was a special occasion) and ordered a bunch of appetizers about a half hour later.  By 9 p.m. we were munching on edamame and finishing our second bottle of champagne.  By 9:30 p.m. we had finished the yuba dumplings, spicy tuna and...you guessed it...our third bottle of champagne.  We were gossiping and giggling and having a grand old time when unexpectedly, from the bar, a baby started screaming.  It was sudden and loud, in the range of blood curdling.  I nearly dropped my salmon and avocado roll.

This image of a salmon and avocado roll
made me realize why sushi is served
in dimly lit restaurants.
Sushi isn't all that attractive. (image here)  

I think most will agree that the sound of a screaming baby is a less pleasant sound.  On the scale of 1 to 10, definitely below a 5.  Even when it's your baby, you can't tell me that the screaming is cute.  You just can't.  The cooing is cute.  The screaming is not cute.  And when the baby isn't your baby, it's especially not cute.  And when it's at a restaurant and interrupts your champagne toasting, it's the worst.

Back in July, I wrote about an airline that was considering banning babies from certain first class flights (here).  I bring this up not because I want restaurants to ban babies, but because on Saturday night I really did wish that the parents had left their little screamer at home.  It didn't ruin the night, not by a mile.  But, the group collectively thought - party foul.

How do you feel about babies in restaurants?  Does the kind of restaurant matter (swanky and high priced versus casual and economic)?  Does the hour matter (early bird special versus late night apps)?