Apologies for not updating the blog for a while,  I have been involved in a few projects and was busy launching my first book on buying a food franchise – Click here to check it out…)

How often have you been in a restaurant with your significant other enjoying a romantic dinner or attending a business dinner with colleagues or clients only to have a family with small screaming children sit at the table next to you? You end up listening to screaming kids all through your meal or even worse, having a grubby fingered urchin running around the restaurant playing hide and seek under your table while their parents eat in blissful silence, totally unaware and uncaring about the havoc their child is creating.

Now don’t get me wrong, I have a child myself but I am one of those people that like children when they are at least a mile away and under strict parental control. My wife will tell you that I go green at the gills just watching a baby eat…….Yuk!! And that included my own! Another story she loves to tell is about a time some years ago while at a party where a variety of dips and snacks were laid out on a low coffee table. Unfortunately two small unsupervised children, who were not chained to the nearest lamp post, were eating in their own little way which meant double dipping and fishing broken chips out of the bean dip (with fingers of course). I turned a few shades of green and had to move away from said table or risk  embarrassing myself in a number of ways.

So, it was with some interest when I read a Yahoo news story about an English restaurant that imposed a  “Baby Tax” equivalent to $5 on anyone bringing a baby or toddler into the restaurant. Of course there was an uproar from the local community and the restaurant ended up apologizing and retracted the “Baby Tax.”

Now, my question is, did the restaurant retract the tax because they upset a few parents or did they retract the tax because the local newspapers had gotten a hold of the story and blew it up with interviews, etc.

After doing a bit of research (it took 5 minutes) I found that this seems to be a growing trend not only in the restaurant sector but in other areas of business as well.

Malaysian Airlines have banned kids in first class, some theaters are having adults only nights and I don’t mean xxx movies. Some hotels, resorts, cruise lines and condo’s  have bans or restrictions on children so there is obviously a need for these services.

The growth of kid free restaurants, businesses and areas while not outstanding, still shows a trend that needs considering. One North Carolina restaurant has a sign that says “Screaming kids will not be tolerated.” In another part of the country a restaurant called McDains has banned all kids under 6 years of age and have claimed that sales have increased!! This is unfair, there are a lot of 7 year olds that could be banned as well but where do you stop!!

I fully understand that kids and families have the same rights as everyone else, but those rights also relate to people that want a quiet dinner without the interruption of screaming children. While I do not agree or disagree with the no kids policy, people should have a choice and you have a choice to spend your money in a no kids restaurant or take your patronage elsewhere.

I know where I will go….