A warning to the baby-phobic

oiseau

This month Bugaboo introduced two new stroller models - the Gecko ($679) and the Cameleon ($879) - designed to traverse bustling sidewalks, sandy beaches and rough, woodsy terrain.

Yeah, but how do they handle on curves?

I had a friend who was very pro-environment and conservation UNTIL she had a child. Then she bought the biggest SUV she could afford. I asked her if she was going to use cloth diapers (so as not to create more garbage) and she looked at me like I was nuts.

I believe that having a child can change a liberal into a conservative faster than 9/11.

anonymous

Subject: double strollers

Wow--this thread is very enlightening to what I have always felt living in NY as a parent these past two years. I think it is really hard being a parent here with so many baby haters. I see the looks of disgust when I take my twins out in my used double stroller. I am always worried about hitting someone with it accidentally and am amazed when people slam store doors in my face when I really just need a quart of milk. Is the hostility towards babies or privileged people's rude attitudes? Because I am not privileged and I feel the disdain. Do I care if you have kids? No--in fact do us a favor and the world's population and don't!

anonymous

Subject: take a deep breath

Oiseau wrote: you live in Park Slope, you think you're entitled. You feel your child is entitled.

I do? I complain about my kid more than most people. I am always shushing her in public, I've not once so much as tapped a pedestrian with my stroller -- it's not that difficult to operate a stroller, by the way. I wonder how many times the complainers here have actually been "hit" by a stroller. Has anyone ever bumped into you by accident? Has a store door or a wheelchair or a bus door or a bike every nicked you? It sounds like there's an epidemic of emergency-room visits due to stroller ramming -- I just don't buy it. You all are looking to pick a fight based on an annoying segment of the population (parents who entitle their kids) but if you don't recognize that not everyone here is like that you do yourselves and everyone else a disservice.

It's just as ignorant to judge people based on where they live and the fact that they are pushing a stroller as it is to judge people based on their race. I for one was here long before this neighborhood is what it is now. You don't know me, you don't know my kid, you don't know where I come from or what my values are, and so it's unbelievably offensive that you pretend to.

I never cease to be amazed at how incredibly close-minded and judgmental so many people in this "liberal," "socially progressive" neighborhood are. There may be amorphous liberal feelings about how people are treated a world away (the further away from the cause that you are physically the easier it is to be passionate about it -- it's the hypocrisy of the priest who teaches respect for all but won't let a homeless person sleep on the church steps) but often it's not applied at home. True liberalism is a respect for and embrace of all different kinds. Don't fucking judge me before you've met me.

anonymous

Subject: what a bunch of malcontents

Carnivore wrote: The black nannies and tattood hipsters aren't expecting any special accomodation from the world around them for their choice of lifestyle. They're not trying to mow people down with strollers . . .

Neither am I, freak. I'm trying to go about my business, while bringing along my 25-pound child. She doesn't have the stamina to walk two miles with me so I often use a stroller. You see, children aren't as developed as you physically or mentally so the custom is to try to accommodate their capabilities as best we can. I certainly have never tried mowing people down, but if you post your picture, I can give it a shot next time I see you!

This rabid anti-stroller sentiment is out of control. A stroller is a way to get a small kid from one place to another in a direct, timely way. End of story. It doesn't mean I think I'm better than you, it doesn't mean I want to hit you with it, it doesn't mean I want you to bow down before me, it's simply a way to go to the store. Can you suggest a way that I can go on errands with a stroller without offending half the neighborhood? Maybe some kind of sign or signal that says "I have a baby but I don't care if you do or don't; I just need to go to the store and bank and maybe the park if that's okay with you"?

Mod note: Quit it with the name calling. There's only one rule here, which is "be nice." You're not. Ordinarily, I'd send you a nice PM, but you're not signed up with this site, so here's your warning right here in public. I fixed yer tags, too. -EM

anonymous

Subject: Mom with stroller hate

Hi I am a mom and have a stroller and also hate stroller SUV moms. I dispise those huge strollers, thinking, geez do you really Jog? And those Bugaboos, geez spending $700 when it is garranteed that in NYC you will need another stroller. Those strollers are huge and cannot go on the bus or fold to carry up and down stairs. I have 4 strollers, one in the trunk of my car, one since the beggining when son was infant (techno XT) and a volo. And a Graco Citilite I bought for cheap and gave away. All those 4 strollers together are cheaper then one bugaboo and trust me, unless you are a Mom or Dad that never leaves the immediate area, never takes a subway, a car ride, a bus, you will have to buy another stroller. While if you have a techno XT you do not have to buy another stroller for any of that stuff. But hey, if you have money to burn then why not get a bugaboo. Also I have been bumped in the ankles plenty of times by strollers, waiting in line, walking in crowded street festivals, annoying.

msboyd

[quote=Oiseau]

I had a friend who was very pro-environment and conservation UNTIL she had a child. Then she bought the biggest SUV she could afford. I asked her if she was going to use cloth diapers (so as not to create more garbage) and she looked at me like I was nuts.

I believe that having a child can change a liberal into a conservative faster than 9/11.

Cloth diapers are no great boon to the environment; the water and chemicals needed to wash them (as well as the gas used delivering them) pretty much cancel that out. Many babies don't deal well with being even slightly damp, so cloth diapers don't really work for them either.

I don't see why having a child would change someone's views that radically -- it just enhances what's there already. If anything, most parents I know are far more concerned about the environment than they were before. But again -- they were concerned about it before, just not as immediately.

Also, be aware that many of us who have children don't like babies any more than anyone else does; it's not (to me) a fun phase, and I'm counting down the days until he can walk and use language. I also hate strollers (and SUVs, for that matter), but on occasion it's necessary.

oiseau

Subject: Re: take a deep breath

stop hating wrote: True liberalism is a respect for and embrace of all different kinds. Don't fucking judge me before you've met me.

Then true liberalism means you will be mowed down by everyperson in this city because you are so open to everything and can not be critical of anything. Give me a break.

I probably already met you. Were you that mother with the whining child who figured her 1 year old would benefit culturally by going out dinner at a nice restaurant? Never too early to learn the finer points of dining.

bigbubba

Subject: Whoah

I probably already met you. Were you that mother with the whining child who figured her 1 year old would benefit culturally by going out dinner at a nice restaurant? Never too early to learn the finer points of dining.

You are one bitter dude.

anonymous

I have a baby yet 80% of the time I am walking around I am w/o my baby (work, night, etc..) and nothing identifies me as a parent (except maybe my extra 20lb gut), and somehow I am able to walk around Park Slope as well as other sections of Brooklyn and Manhattan w/o being "rammed" by strollers or inconvenienced by all these horrible parents w/ their spoiled children.

YET I am constantly bothered by people who feel it ok to walk 2 and 3 abreast at a snails pace down the sidewal - therby blocking normal speed walkers;

When I am in a car I am constantly being slowed by people who must think Cab meters are only for decoration based on the amazing long time it takes them to russle up the cash necessary to pay for their ride and exit the cab which is blocking all lanes of traffic.;

I am also constantly being slowed by the groups of smokers who stand in the middle of the sidewal outside bars and restaurants everywhere - effecively blocking my right of way;

I am also always being annoyed by these people who try to hand me literature on their latest polical cause;

Oh and the guys who beg for money;

and the 'free newspaper' people

also I hate people who talk to loud in nice restaurants,

or use ther phone in nice restaurants,

yeah I hate alot of things and their is an easy solution - I could move to the isolation of the suburbs which is what I suggest to those people who are so aggrevated by those of us that actually are trying to raise children properly so they wont grow up and rob and rape your complaining ass.

teamkaty

So bizarre. I lived in Park Slope for 7 years and never once suffered so much as a glancing blow from a stroller. Never had a meal ruined by shrieks and squeals. Managed to use Tea Lounge as my freelance office on weekday afternoons without being crawled or spit-up on. Yeah, there are a lot of parents and kids there. Me, I always thought it was cool to live in a place where folks could propagate without being immured in their homes for five years.

But I guess people have to complain about something...

anonymous

urbandog, excellent list. I have one more for you:

People who cross the street against the light without so much as a glance at vehicular traffic coming their way. It never fails to astound me when, having a green light, I attempt to drive through an intersection, only to be forced to stop mere feet away from someone lazily strolling (not the evil "strolling," baby haters, don't worry) at the red, suddenly pulled out of their reverie when they realize they've almost been hit. The look is always exactly the same: befuddlement, followed by actually looking at the traffic light (light bulb goes off!), then a quick scurry to the other side.

Park Slope is the only neighborhood I've driven in where I have this experience again and again and again on every outing. Yes, you and your destination are clearly the most important thing, but don't get yourself killed, for God's sake!

dailyheights

YES. I call this "Seventh Avenue Syndrome", or SAS. It is acutely noticeable upon returning to Park Slope from a long trip out of town. This is New York, people!

jack

normal ps mom wrote: People who cross the street against the light without so much as a glance at vehicular traffic coming their way.

If you can ever head over to Brighton Beach Avenue in the middle of a busy day and you'll learn what triple parking and jaywalking and 'I learned how to drive in a former communist country' means.

I grew up there and still can't believe it. And learned how to drive there as well. The only thing that comes close here is crossing the street near the nexus of Atlantic/Flatbush/Fourth Avenues.

Sorry but all the complaints against parents and strollers just seem a tad trite and excessive. Some coffeeshops are baby stroller parking zones. And some aren't. If I'm not in the mood, I avoid them and get on with my day.

Funny but a generation ago the concept of 'noise cancelling' headphones didn't exist at all, so maybe there's something in the proverbial water that is making people more sensitive nowadays.

anonymous

Jack, good point. I'm from Gravesend and I know from what you speak. But the phenomenon of purposeful oblivion here strikes me as worlds more irritating, maybe because I am reading too much of an "I own the place" smugness here, whereas in Brighton, walking into the middle of a busy street seems in keeping with the general chaos and . . . um, charm? (Charming if you're not being forced to keep making fruitless right turns while looking for beach parking on a 90 degree day.)

carnivore

Subject: Re: what a bunch of malcontents

mom w/o political agenda wrote: This rabid anti-stroller sentiment is out of control. A stroller is a way to get a small kid from one place to another in a direct, timely way. End of story.

Actually, it's the rabid anti-anti-stroller sentiment in your post that's out of control. Obviously, it's not the strollers themselves, but the people behind them that many of us find so offensive. "Normal PS mom" recently ranted about people jaywalking and how they and their destination are the most important thing, yet you fail to recognise how prevalent that very attitude is among the Park Slope stroller-pushers. I don't think anyone has anything against you running your errands. What people object to is the stroller-as-battering-ram phenomenon, with the accompanying "you'd better get out of my way, because I'm running an errand and I have a baby" glower. Of course, I haven't been injured by hordes of out-of-control strollers. And I'm not actually marketing my "cow-catcher" McLaren attachment. What I think most people without an axe to grind recognised is that I was exaggerating for dramatic (and comic) effect. I'm sorry if it was too subtle for you.

anonymous

Man... there is some totally excellent ranting going on in here.

Listen up. I've lived in Park Slope for many years. I don't have kids. I actually enjoy the fact that so many families feel comfortable enough to raise their kids here. I like kids (in small quantities). And Park Slope parents have always been a breed apart.

What has gotten outof control is the sense of entitlement. Want to know why people are behaving with hostility towards parents and strollers? It's because they have been offended too many times.

They have had to jump out of the way of strollers carelessly barreling down 7th Ave too many times.

They have been forced off the sidewalk by stroller gangs too many times.

They have sat through too many +$50 per person meals sitting next to screaming babies.

And their assistance to parents, such as holding doors, has gone unacknowledged by a "thank you" too many times.

All you defensive Slopey parents out there need to recognize that while you may not be the culprits, your kind has developed a bad rap, and it is based on some real experiences.

You have become a stereotype!

So, instead of denying the truth, you need to listen.

These people are not baby-haters. They are sick of the self-centered, arrogance displayed by many NYC parents.

Your defensiveness and name-calling only provides further proof of the accusations.

anonymous

Subject: anti stroller anti park slope--so move

So why are you all staying or shopping in Park Slope if you don't like a certain type of parent and don't like the way people cross the streets? Guess what? There are LOTS of other neighborhoods in Brooklyn with lots of other kinds of people. If it is privilege that you find annoying, I suggest moving to a less affluent neighborhood. I got priced out of Park Slope and it turned out to be a blessing in disguise. I am really curious as to why you stay and complain?

Now for you baby/stroller haters. I would just like the same courtesy I give you when I see you carrying heavy Prada shopping bags, or groceries or using crutches. I hold open the door, figure it will take you longer to get on the bus, figure you didn't mean to stop directly in front of a moving stroller to answer your cell phone to say "uhm, I am on 7th and Garfield, where are you?". So if you really don't want to be around kids--there are lots of places you can move to rectify that situation too--i think they are called retirement communities and there are loads of them in Florida. Or a gated community so that you can choose what one kind of person you want to be around.

anonymous

Except Miguel2 the point is that PS Parents (or residents) arent a "breed apart" and this anti baby hositility stems more from the proponets of the view then any real"truth" - sure I am sure all the complaints have happened to someone at sometime but these inconveniences are no more prevelant than the many other annoying things that people do in NYC (and beyond). Further, using the term "entitled" is simply some sort of class attack that I find truly revealing (and amusing).

Unless you would use the term "entitled" to those people who are apparently too poor or cheap (or both) to get a babysitter and instead bring their 2yr old to R rated movies at 11PM - therby ruining the movie with distractions for all other patrons.

Or you would use the term "entitled" to describe those people who are apparently not "privedged" enough to have a backyard and instead use the front of their house to blast music, barbaque, and get drunk and loud.

Or you would use the term "entitled" to describe those people who think it approriate to drive down the street with a motorcycle exahust so loud as to ratle windows 5 blocks away.

My guess is you dont use the word "entitled", and probably you PS "baby haters" have much less sensitivity to all or some of these things - and it is your highetened sensitivity to this one (of thousands) annoyance that reveals that the problem is most likely YOU, not some Mom who may or may not be overwhelmed with the incredible pressure of properly raising a chld in this city at this time .

carnivore

Subject: Re: anti stroller anti park slope--so move

KensingtonMom wrote: Now for you baby/stroller haters. I would just like the same courtesy I give you when I see you carrying heavy Prada shopping bags, or groceries or using crutches.

1. Don't try to make this a class issue. I have never bought anything from Prada. And judging from the DH happy hours, I think I can safely say that you're unlikely to find anyone here blocking the sidewalk with oversize Prada bags. The Prada bags are much more likely to be dangling from the $700 strollers.
2. You're intentionally confusing the issue by lumping baby and stroller haters together, and it's an ugly and obvious tactic. Are you for the Iraq war or are you against the troops?

KensingtonMom wrote: So if you really don't want to be around kids--there are lots of places you can move to rectify that situation too--i think they are called retirement communities and there are loads of them in Florida. Or a gated community so that you can choose what one kind of person you want to be around.

Read before you rant. I don't think anyone is saying they don't want to be around kids, except in places where it's inappropriate and inconsiderate to bring kids (i.e. expensive restaurants). With your hostility to the un-child-encumbered, maybe you'd be happier somewhere more child-friendly. Maybe the midwest somewhere? They'd love you in Utah!

anonymous

Actually I believe at least 4 posters here have expressed a desire not to be around kids - including you in your Aug 19th post.

That being said -

Isnt it telling that babies (or strollers) have you so bent out of shape, while all the other annoyances mentioned dont seem to result in a whimper out of you

carnivore

urbandog wrote: Except Miguel2 the point is that PS Parents (or residents) arent a "breed apart" and this anti baby hositility stems more from the proponets of the view then any real"truth"

Just because you're restating it doesn't make it true. I've lived in New York my entire life, in 3 boroughs, and the PS parents are a breed apart. The orthodox Jewish families in Midwood clearly outbreed the PS parents, yet manage to do so without undue expectations of those around them. Maybe because having kids is such a natural part of their lives, it's less of a big deal to them. In the middle-class Bronx neighborhood I used to live in, there were plenty of families with kids. They also were able to make it to the supermarket with their strollers without playing "chicken" with oncoming pedestrians. Even the uber-entitled parents of the UES were less confrontational with the people around them than the PSers. Maybe it's because the streets are wider there, or they can afford nannies and babysitters better, but I never got that nasty eye from them, and I could generally expect a thank you when I held a door for a stroller-encumbered Mom. Finally, in my current neighborhood of Prospect Heights, just across Flatbush, the parents are noticably more considerate than the PS parents. I haven't had a single problem with any of my neighbors or their children since moving here.

urbandog wrote: Isnt it telling that babies (or strollers) have you so bent out of shape, while all the other annoyances mentioned dont seem to result in a whimper out of you

Yes, there are plenty of other annoyances in this city, but this thread isn't about them. There are plenty of rants on other topics in other threads, so let's keep on the relevant issue.

urbandog wrote: Actually I believe at least 4 posters here have expressed a desire not to be around kids - including you in your Aug 19th post.

I guess I should have specifically explained that Jonathan Swift's work is satirical.
sat·ire
NOUN:
1. A literary work in which human vice or folly is attacked through irony, derision, or wit.
2. The branch of literature constituting such works. See Synonyms at caricature.
3. Irony, sarcasm, or caustic wit used to attack or expose folly, vice, or stupidity.

I believe the third definition would be the most relevant one here.

anonymous

Can you say rabid screaming stroller moms on the attack :twisted:

catnip

Carnivore wrote: I guess I should have specifically explained that Jonathan Swift's work is satirical.

Amen Carnivore !!! You Da Man (hmmm ... Da Handpuppet?) ... anyway ... you get what I'm sayin' .... (right?) .... :P

carnivore

catnip wrote: [quote=Carnivore]I guess I should have specifically explained that Jonathan Swift's work is satirical.

Amen Carnivore !!! You Da Man (hmmm ... Da Handpuppet?) ... anyway ... you get what I'm sayin' .... (right?) .... :P
Thanks!

anonymous

Carnivore wrote: orthodox Jewish families in Midwood clearly outbreed the PS parents, yet manage to do so without undue expectations of those around them.

What undue expectations are you referring because the only specific complaint (other than veiled references to class and non-specific 'attitude') you have made involves people taking up sidewalk space and hitting you with large (and expensive) strollers.
I find it hard to believe that you are hit so often to generate such venom.

carnivore

urbandog wrote: What undue expectations are you referring because the only specific complaint (other than veiled references to class and non-specific 'attitude') you have made involves people taking up sidewalk space and hitting you with large (and expensive) strollers.
I find it hard to believe that you are hit so often to generate such venom.

I'm not sure what "venom" you're talking about. I've been nothing but civil, and have simply addressed specific accusations by overly-defensive Park Slope parents.
Not to belabor the point, but "taking up sidewalk space" isn't the issue. It's the expectation that everyone around them go out of their way to accomodate them, and the subsequent total lack of graciousness when people do so. I don't have a problem holding doors and making way on the sidewalk for someone with a stroller. What I think a lot of us here object to is the look daring us not to move, the not saying thank you, dare I say it, the sense of entitlement that they are only getting their due. More specifics already mentioned include the expectations that people trying to watch an adult movie, eat in a restaurant or enjoy a cup of coffee in a cafe all put aside the desires that led them to go to said establishments in the first place in order to accomodate these people's half-assed parenting. The refusal to leave when they are unable to control their children.
How many examples do you want? It's not the specific actions, but the attitude behind them. The selfishness and sense of entitlement are grating after a while. If they can't afford a babysitter (hard to believe of someone at an expensive restaurant), they should get a grandparent, sibling, cousin or friend to watch the kids for a few hours. If they can't get that, maybe they should consider not going out that night. Having a child means you have to make compromises in life. But many of these objectionable parents are too selfish to make that sacrifice, and would prefer to ruin the meals of the other 50 diners in the restaurant than stay at home with the kids.

emily

This thread kind of mystifies me. I like kids a lot, but can anyone deny that there are jerky parents in the city? It's hard to believe that only the non-jerks in the city reproduce.

Since everyone is talking in vague generalities, let me tell you my favorite jerky parent story. I live on the first floor of my building. One morning, as I was getting ready to leave for work, a toddler was making a ruckus in the lobby, which didn't particularly bother me as I was awake and about to leave anyway and hey, toddlers'll do that. As I stepped into the lobby and started to lock my door, the mother of the child said to me, "Wow. You live in the noisy apartment, huh?"

This left me totally speechless. She didn't say "Good morning" or "Oh gosh--were we bothering you?" let alone any kind of apology. No, she assumed that since her child was choosing to make a ruckus, there was something wrong with my apartment. For what it's worth, our apartment is not noisy; the people in our building are friendly and respectful. (Turns out she was visiting somebody that morning. Doesn't live there, thank God.)

When I posted this story in my blog, I got some comments along the lines of "Oh, you'll feel differently when you have kids." I don't think so. I have manners now and I intend to keep them through whatever life changes I might experience. I didn't have a bone to pick with the kid; it was the mother who was out of line.

I don't really see the utility of a thread devoted to complaining about a whole group of parents but I think it's really naive to think that all parents are very nice and behave themselves all the time or that parenthood somehow makes you into an unassailably good person.

anonymous

Carnivore wrote: [quote=urbandog]What undue expectations are you referring because the only specific complaint (other than veiled references to class and non-specific 'attitude') you have made involves people taking up sidewalk space and hitting you with large (and expensive) strollers.
I find it hard to believe that you are hit so often to generate such venom.

I'm not sure what "venom" you're talking about. I've been nothing but civil, and have simply addressed specific accusations by overly-defensive Park Slope parents.
Not to belabor the point, but "taking up sidewalk space" isn't the issue. It's the expectation that everyone around them go out of their way to accomodate them, and the subsequent total lack of graciousness when people do so. I don't have a problem holding doors and making way on the sidewalk for someone with a stroller. What I think a lot of us here object to is the look daring us not to move, the not saying thank you, dare I say it, the sense of entitlement that they are only getting their due. More specifics already mentioned include the expectations that people trying to watch an adult movie, eat in a restaurant or enjoy a cup of coffee in a cafe all put aside the desires that led them to go to said establishments in the first place in order to accomodate these people's half-assed parenting. The refusal to leave when they are unable to control their children.
How many examples do you want? It's not the specific actions, but the attitude behind them. The selfishness and sense of entitlement are grating after a while. If they can't afford a babysitter (hard to believe of someone at an expensive restaurant), they should get a grandparent, sibling, cousin or friend to watch the kids for a few hours. If they can't get that, maybe they should consider not going out that night. Having a child means you have to make compromises in life. But many of these objectionable parents are too selfish to make that sacrifice, and would prefer to ruin the meals of the other 50 diners in the restaurant than stay at home with the kids.

I really could not have said it better.

I'm not a hostile baby-hater. Yes, I'll admit that my post from a week or so ago was not productive, but that was before people started getting serious on this thread. I was half-joking.

Anyhow, I still hold doors for people with children, I still coo at babies, I still help people with strollers. And yes, if I saw you Slopey Moms struggling with a stroller and bags, I'd even offer to carry something for you. I do appreciate how hard it can be, though I don't have kids of my own. I have nieces and nephews that I adore.

But, on the other hand, I am totally, totally, sick of this Slopey Mom attitude. I am not a doorman or the hired help, so a "thank you" would be nice. I am "entitled" to occupy some space on the sidewalk, so stop trying to take out my shins. I think your kid is cute, but I would like to enjoy my meal amongst adults. And no, I am not moving. The problem may be particularly acute in Park Slope, but as the NY Times article pointed out, this is a national trend - spoiled parents and kids runnin wild. There is no place to hide.

anonymous

Subject: are their slopey moms even on here?

Are you sure you are even addressing slopey moms here?
This thread is muddled--
Some just don't like babies
Some just don't like the privileged and aggressive Slope moms. Which then becomes about class (or an annoying kind of upper class)
For some this is a general dislike of babies being in public by what they deem appropriate or inappropriate times and places. (In Italy people bring their babies out to eat at all hours and it doesn't cause this friction).
And for others it is about privileged and annoying parents who think their children are god and everyone should be thrilled to witness their every burp.

So yes it is about class for some and babies for others and rude parents to others--and i think everyone understood the satire.

You WILL be much more sympathetic when you have your own children (IF YOU CHOOSE to have your own children) when you see that you are tired, you cannot control every utterance your child makes, babysitting is hard to arrange in NY, and as the cliché goes you stop sweating the small stuff because you don't have time to care anymore.

bigbubba

Subject: Come on now!

Tell me honestly - how many NICE meals of yours have been ruined by a crying baby? You can NOT count meals at Two Boots or La Villa, or any restaurant before 6:00pm. Is it any more than have been ruined by a loud party, a couple yapping so loud that you can't help than over hear their conversation, a jerk-off on his/her cell phone??

Be honest. Then try to show a little compassion. Parent's need to get out now and then too. If I take my kid to dinner it is always early and at an already loud restaurant. Trust me, if my son puts up fuss - no one feels worse than me. But give me a break, I'm entitled to go out to dinner too. I'm also entitled to ruin your meal as much as anyone else.