So...this is an interesting debate. Should parents be allowed to bring babies (and toddlers) into bars? Want my opinion? Well too bad cause I'ma give it to you anyway...FUCK NO! Why? For the very reason many of the parents who participate in such an activity state as their reason: because it's a place where adults hang out.
To me, a bar is a place I go to have Adult Time...away from my children. Don't get me wrong, I love my children dearly. But sometimes, adult interaction outside of one's workplace is a needed respite. That being said; if I'm at a bar (and I'm talking an actual bar here...as in a place whose almost exclusive reason for existence is to sell alcohol...not a restaurant), seeing a kid pretty much tosses Adult Time out the window. I immediately go back to "parent mode"; which is to say I become more cognizant of my behavior and censor myself to a certain extent. This is not relaxing...which is generally the whole point of having a few with some friends.
Not to mention the fact that, well...it's a damn bar. Maybe it's just the places that I generally hang out, but bringing my kid to the local haunts on a Saturday night so I can have a pop or two is not on the top of Dr. Spock's list. (Full disclosure...I used to play video games at the bar my parents would hang out at...which was across the parking lot from our apartment...I was like 9...not 14 months and in a stroller. I stayed out of the way...in a different room...where the games were. Call me a hypocrite.)
People on the other side of the debate lament how they feel "disconnected" from the adult community because of the fact that they have a kid. They can't get out to interact with other adults as often as they'd like because of the responsibilities of parenthood.
Cry me a fucking river.
YOU decided to have a child. YOU should have understood that with the great rewards that come along with that decision, there are trade-offs. Nothing is free.
FACT: When you have kids, you give up a certain amount of personal freedom. Scratch that...you give up A LOT of personal freedom. What you get in return is immeasurable satisfaction in the act of bringing new life into the world, molding it and watching it grow into its own.
Listen...it's simple. Bringing your kid to a bar is selfish and rude. There are people there who decided not to have kids...their reward is getting to go to the bar whenever they want. There are people there who have kids and went through the difficulty of securing a babysitter for the evening so that they could get away from them for a little while. They don't even want to be dealing with their own children at that point, let alone your little rug rats. Do them the simple kindness of allowing them a night off.
I guess what I'm saying is: if you want to go to the bar, get a babysitter. If you can't get one...tough shit. You made the decision...don't make everyone else suffer because you're not willing to accept the trade-offs that come with it.
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