As if parents having to defend bringing kids in restaurants at all wasn’t hard enough, a U.K. couple just made it that much harder. One restaurant patron posted on NextDoor that their meal was ruined because they had to watch their toddler use a travel toilet in the dining room.
According to reports, the incident occurred at the Cacciari Asian restaurant in South Kensington, West London. Daily Mail.
They wrote on the neighborhood social media website: “We went there for lunch today, and while having our meal, a couple sitting nearby pulled out a potty for their kid to use right in front of other customers.”
The post implied as well that the child had defecated inside the potty. The restaurant, however, claims that this is not the case.
The source said that the incident is being investigated, and the customer who posted the online incident overreacted. He pointed out that the child was a toddler Only a few people know how to pronounce the word “only” Urinated away from other guests.
“The toddler only urinated into the potty. The table was more than 3m away. I believe the diner was overreacting. The child was about two years old and was with his pregnant mother,” he said.
The diner who was disgusted also stated in their post that the waiters knew what was going on and did nothing to prevent the parents from allowing the kid to relieve himself in the middle the restaurant.
The post continued, “They were not asked by the waiting staff or restaurant manager to take the kid to the toilet. We found this such a put off as this wasn’t overwhelmingly respectful to fellow diners or a display of respect of hygiene in a public dining space.”
Other NextDoor users chimed in on the customer’s complaint, agreeing that the display was distasteful.
One wrote, “This should be reported to Environmental Health immediately. If the parents have no common sense or respect for other diners, the restaurant staff should have intervened immediately and frankly ejected the inconsiderate patrons.”
Some of the comments expressed sympathy for the parents.
One wrote, “It’s called potty training … come on the kid had to go … parents may have thought it was just a pee needed.”
A spokesman for Kensington and Chelsea council told the Daily Mail: “We can confirm that we have had a complaint and we will be investigating further.”
Yes, potty training kids can be stressful when most public bathrooms are not kid-friendly and you can’t stay at home forever. It is not acceptable to have a child go to the bathroom while others are enjoying their Cobb salad with fries.