Monkey See, Monkey Do - Diner Owner Yells at Yelling Toddler

If you have the internet, it is likely that you have seen the story about the Portland, Maine diner owner who hollered at a 21-month-old for screaming. In an act for help and compassion, the parents of the toddler girl took to social media. To their surprise, the commenters not only showed a lack of compassion, but actually commended the diner owner for doing what every person who was ever stuck in a small space with a screaming child wanted to do:
Yell at a small person who couldn't control their emotions like an adult.
Today, kids of all ages are being groomed for adulthood in a very different way than their parents were. Children are dressed up in adult like clothing that follows the "latest styles" and expected to sit quietly at a table while adults talk. For anyone who has ever spent an extended amount of time with a toddler, they know that that isn't always possible.
This expectation does not consider that child's personality, general behavior, or that child's day. In the case of the diner owner yelling at a screaming toddler, she not only showed a lack of professionalism and empathy, but proved that she was just as out of control as the less than two year old she was yelling at.
When interviewed, the diner owner Darla Neugebauer stated that she was not only not sorry, but, "[the parents] was lucky I didn't get really fu*king nuts because being physical is not something I cower from."
Um...that's illegal.
Not only was she not sorry about slamming her hands down and screaming into the face of a toddler to shut up, she would not be above using physical violence to remove the child. The parents are shocked and upset about the woman's lack of respect and self control.
This hungry little girl is not the first toddler to throw a fit in a restaurant and she certainly won't be the last. Toddlers are unpredictable and emotional. Parents try to do their best to control their children and keep them quiet and happy in public, but there are times when that is simply impossible.
Although it's annoying, even for other parents with other kids who are sitting nicely, sometimes the child is inconsolable. The parents of the little girl in Maine were probably frazzled, and embarrassed and just as desperate to calm their child as the diner owner was.
When a toddler is throwing a fit in a public space both the child and their parents need compassion and understanding, not a public chastising. There is no way to know what type of day that toddler had had. The family had stopped at the restaurant on their way to visit family in NH. At the very least, the child was in an unfamiliar place filled with unfamiliar things. That alone could be cause for a melt down. Add hunger and it's a whole new ball park of fits. Unfortunately, the diner owner showed that her behavior is little better than the little girl she was screaming at. At least the toddler had an excuse.