To find this completely unacceptable?

[AllAboutTheBuppy]

A family just got up and left this appalling mess for the staff to clear up. Is this normal behaviour?

Ive seen this kind of mess only once before at a two for one pub. On that occasion the dirty fuckers had also managed to smear baked beans all over the seats and carpets. I remember feeling really sorry for the staff who had to clean up after them. It's just feral behaviour.

More than forty years ago I spent some weeks serving and cleaning tables at one of the eateries at at London Zoo. The boss there told me that the humans were the filthiest animals in the place and she wasn’t wrong.

Birds Having worked in hospitality for years, I bet it wasn't done by a child having a major tantrum though.

You're right OP. Completely unacceptable.

My DGD... will make a mess, not dissimilar to this. My DD always asks for a dustpan and brush and always gets told no
So she k.ows her DD will make a god awful mess that the staff will end up cleaning up but doesn't do anything but keep letting her do it?

TheBigFatMermaid

My DGD, still young enough that she sits in a high chair, will make a mess, not dissimilar to this. My DD always asks for a dustpan and brush and always gets told no, they staff will clean up. Maybe the people asked for the tools to clean up and were told the same!

I hope your daughter tips REALLY well. That mess is disgusting.

We made mess once in wagamamas, a firm family favourite with us. Not that bad, but bad enough!

I babywipd the table and then got under the table to gather up the worst of it. Waitress came over and said, no please don’t do that. I said, yes but it’s a hellava mess. (2 kids, soupy noodles, it was dire) and she said, no we will clear it up. Then they brought the children 2 ice lollies and we have them a stonking big tip.

It’s the sense of entitlement that is so breathtakingly rude.

• Left them

I work in a restaurant and it happens daily

A few weeks ago I went into a pub, sat down and realised the wall and floor next to me was filthy, covered in splashes and grime, skirting board dark grey with grease and dust. Had gone in for lunch, but just ordered a drink as it also smelled bad where I was sitting.

As I left there was a similar mess to the OP's photo, but much more food strewn around under one of the tables, it has been there when I went in but no-one had bothered to clean it up.

A contrast to one I use often where a cute little boy had been having fun with his lunch, his parents asked for a brush and the waiter said not to worry, then swept it as soon as they had left.

Back in the days before I had dcs myself I used to be out quite a bit with my friend and her toddler DD (my eldest goddaughter). Friend would just leave food and shit all over the place. Her DD learned nothing. I would clean it up each time when I realised she wouldn't. Confronted her a couple of times but infuriatingly she just said it was what the staff were paid to do (er no, not a good excuse imo). Stopped eating in cafes with her eventually.

I always clear up. If it's really bad I ask for a dustpan and brush. If they say no, I insist. No-one has refused me yet.

That’s awful, my youngest is two so still messy with some foods(nothing like that though). I wipe any mess up the best I can with baby wipes/napkins.

I ate out with a friend a lot when our boys were just weaned. We used to go for lunch in great restaurants just because.

I tidied up as we went, friend waited until the end. We always left the places tidy. Both boys can be taken anywhere now. Actions speak louder than words! The boys learned we try to be clean and tidy just by watching.

I often ask for a dust pan and brush at restaurants as my 2 DD (3&1) are bloody animals and I get so embarrassed by mess they make. This is filthy

That's disgusting.

I have a friend who did the same. I refuse to eat our with her and her child now.

I did BLW but I ALWAYS cleared up the mess.

DD used to be quite a messy eater and I was forever on my hands and knees with baby wipes sweeping it up. I was often stopped by waiting staff and told that they would do it but I wouldn't have dreamed of leaving it all for them. Very disrespectful.
After a few occasions of sweeping crumbs by hand I got wise to less crumby food- much easier to pick up chunks or even better if it was a spoon fed meal!
I did ask once for a dustpan and brush but was refused. It showed willing though and the staff were very appreciative.

I really hope the parents are MNetters, so they can read exactly what everyone thinks of them.

That's horrendous. When I was 16 I used to work front of house in a countryside pub popular with families and walkers passing through and I'd say a third of families left the high chair and floor in that state. And didn't even leave a tip. I was really friendly back then too that ship has sailed

Not normal behaviour but I worked as a waitress nearly 20 years ago in two popular family chains and this was very common. The mess some people used to leave was appalling. Was really disrespectful actually, to staff and fellow customers (if it was busy the waiting time for tables/service was longer because of staff being diverted to clean up such a mess).

With kids now myself I always clean up as best I can. I know it's impossible to get all the crumbs, but cutlery/crockery, rubbish and big bits of food can be easily picked up. And even then, this should only be an issue with babies as older children should have some basic table manners/discipline.

It's fairly grim but with a proper long handled dustpan and brush it wouldnt take long to clear up.

I always get down on my hands and knees and try and scrape it up myself usually so if they haven't asked for something to use then it's not very nice to leave it like that, there are some large bits they could have picked up.

It's not THAT unusual though for a toddler sometimes they do drop their dinners. LOL at saying people wouldn't allow their children to make such a mess.

Disgusting but common when I waitressed as a student. 'kids eat free Sundays' were the bane of my life, and terrible shifts for tips even though there was a lot more running around and clearing up disgusting messes than on any other shift.

That’s horrible, I see it all the time. I clean up everything dropped by my baby (a lot, as she is feeding herself), wipe high chair down etc. Just nasty not to.

My eldest was getting a bit stressed in a family chain the other week, as she kept whispering that the family at the next table weren’t behaving nicely. I just shushed her in a reassuring way as she is autistic and can be a bit blunt/black and white about rule following etc... then we left, after I spent my usual ten minutes clearing up the baby’s food (takes me longer as I have muscle/dizziness issues) and then saw the state of the floor at the next table. Fucking hell. It wasn’t even food mostly, they’d had some kind of pavement chalk or something and it was all dropped onto the floor and trodden in. FFS on what planet is that ok. DD was right I had to admit. 3 adults at the table as well so no reason one of them couldn’t do it.

FWIW I am actually not a tidy person at all at home so I’m not sure it is always representative. I have ASD myself and really struggle keeping up with housework etc. But I would never leave a restaurant like that.

Well done for taking the photo and shaming them. I hope they see it.
Horrible people who obviously have no respect at all. Why should someone clear up their crap and why do they think its ok for their children to throw food and to leave it on the floor?

I always tidy up the table after myself. My 3 year old daughter helps. She was being so helpful yesterday and she decided the straws she used for drinking water could be returned back to the straw dispenser! I did remove them.
When my daughter was younger she knocked a plate of rice on the floor in Wagamamas, I asked for a dustpan and brush to clean it but the waiter insisted it was ok and he’d do it.