At very long last, two males have been arrested in connection with Rehtaeh Parsons' suicide earlier this year. The 17-year-old from Halifax was cyberbullied for many months, following an alleged sexual assault.
Children and messes. The two go together like Salt N' Pepa. Yet for some reason a Washington cafe owner deemed it necessary to shame parents who left without cleaning up the crumby trail left behind by their young children.
According to an article in the Huffington Post, Lorraine MacDuff posted pictures of the aftermath when a family visited Rainy Days Caffe. Yet she couldn't have foreseen the backlash that came to whoop her in the Facebook.
Not only did MacDuff ask the parents to leave her biz because one of the children would not stop yelling, she told them they were welcome to return "without their kids." What a way to court business.
Then she added a photo to her Facebook page, showing the mess left behind by the little ones who had noshed on scones. (Frankly I challenge any grown-up to eat a scone without leaving a trace...)
Of course critics went to the extreme, threatening to drag MacDuff "behind their truck." Even though she has since apologized and removed the photos, I doubt parents will be rushing to support her business any time soon. As we all know, word spreads fast in family circles... More than ever, bad behaviour in public places can go viral on the turn of a dime, but the regret lingers on...
As on commenter argued on the FB page, it's not like the kids trashed the joint. Nothing was broken. We're talking about crumbs, people. The owner should get some perspective, fast, or risk losing valued trade:
"They didn't spray paint the walls or set anything on fire... they left crumbs. Get a vaccuum (sic) and get over it."
You tell me. Were the parents disrespectful for leaving behind a mess, or was the owner out of order for asking them to leave?
Heads up tweens and teens and the parents of... Want to earn a few bucks? Of course you do. But if you think that babysitting is an easy gig, think again. This fab PSA courtesy of Laughing Squid may have you laughing at all the things that can go wrong, but the message at the fore is dead serious.
If you want to care for little people, you need to learn a few vital things. And the American Red Cross has just the thing: an online babysitter's course.
Trust me, as someone who's been there eons ago—chubby toddler leg stuck in child gate, CD jammed in stereo, et al—it's no a laughing matter when these happen in "real life." I wish such a course had existed in my day. Then again, *cue gasp* in my day there was no internet...
Any babysitting horror stories? Do share. See our tips on choosing a competent babysitter.
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