SFist Rants: Kids In Public
Boy, do we feel like a grumpy old man writing this.
According to a recent AP article, only 14.5% of the population in San Francisco are children under 18. This is the smallest percentage in any major U.S. city.
Throughout the article this is referred to as a "crisis." Possible factors cited include our large gay population, even though that segment is increasingly raising more families. Expensive housing? Another possible factor, sure, of course; to our thinking that's the main one.
Mayor Newsom, who we usually find to be fairly sensible, is talking about a "27-member policy council to develop plans for keeping families in the city."
What? Are you kidding? The thought of 27 people coming to any cohesive conclusion is a joke.
So there aren't very many kids in San Francisco? We don't really care.
Perhaps people in San Francisco are becoming reluctant to have children in the first place after witnessing atrocious behavior and the lax parenting behind it in public one too many times.
Example: we were at a restaurant the other night, a little nice but not overly so. It's a fine place for well-behaved kids. Well, there was a little terror running around, getting in front of waiters that were carrying food, buzzing by patrons, etc. Annoying? Yeah. Criminal? Not yet. Not until the rug rat started pulling down the curtains.
The waiter watched, mouth agape, in shock. He clearly wanted to say something; I'm not sure why he didn't. But mom, who was about three feet away, didn't say a damned thing. We weren't sure if dad was around, but there were several gentlemen at the table, none of whom said anything either.
Sure, junior -- pull down the curtains. Ruin the interior. Everyone knows a restaurant typically has an abundance of cash lying around to compensate for damaged property.
Oh, wait. No they don't.
We don't much care what you do with your children at home (so long as you're not abusive), but we'd appreciate you taking steps toward keeping your children from being public nuisances -- and the property damage to a minimum. We understand that parents won't be around to curb other disturbing juvenile behavior we typically witness (teens tagging the interior of buses, that kind of thing) -- it's probably too late at that point. But when mom and/or dad are actually there, present when the toddler-through-tween is creating a problem, we'd sure appreciate it if they reined their offspring in.