Whatever happened to that tried and true, time-tested axiom about children—that they were to be “seen and not heard”? Apparently, it went out the window with many other common sense conventions from yesteryear.

On Saturday, a local restaurant owner basically told two stupid parents unable to control their toddler that it wasn’t acceptable for their kid to scream and carry on for 40 minutes in her restaurant. And of course, social media—whose biggest claim to fame is that it gives a platform to dolts with opinions not warranting the light of day—has been flooded in typical lynch mob-style, with tirades from “internet moms” against her via Facebook.

Screaming kids ruin restaurant dining.

Note to parents (yes, you doltish “internet moms”) of young children; your kids aren’t the center of my universe, especially if I’m eating in a restaurant and your kid’s acting like a brat. Address the boorish behavior like an adult, or take the kid out of the restaurant. Don’t leave it up to the owner of a busy diner to deal with your lack of parenting skills.

While I’ve opined about my time spent in fundamentalist Xianity—with much of it being negative—one piece of advice/training that was beneficial, came via Jack Hyles’ book on child-rearing. He had that right, in IMHO. Of course, his advice was old-fashioned. Discipline aligned more closely with the “spare the rod, spoil the child” school of parenting (dating back a few thousand years, btw) is no longer looked upon kindly by the permissive types raising kids today. Of course, we’re now reaping the legacy sown by red diaper doper baby parents, who bought into the hands-off permissiveness perpetrated in the 1960s that has left us with kids screaming at the top of their lungs for 40 minutes when they aren’t given their pancakes on time.

This type of scene isn’t limited to restaurants, either. I see it in the supermarkets, on airplanes (oh, joy!) and almost any place where there’s a mother (an “internet mom?”) and her kids. Fathers (perhaps he’s an “internet dad”) aren’t any better, either. They just stand around like brow-beaten surrogates, the “new” secondary role that men have been relegated to, all part of America’s 21st-century archetype for the family.

But back to the story at hand. Marcy’s Diner is an old-school type of “hash house” that Portland used to have more of, prior to the landing of the hipsters and their assorted hipster palaces and eateries. Co-owner, Darla Neugebauer, doesn’t seem to concerned with kow-towing to the PC police, either. Behave in her place, or else! Good for her!!

Oh, and one more thing. While far from being scientific, I’d guess that the FB comments on Marcy’s break along the lines of whether you find Portland invigorating, or too full of itself these days. I’m down with the latter.