German Waiters And Waitresses
 

Since my sister and her family now live in Germany, I visit them as much as possible and I surprised even myself that I have gone to Germany more times in the last few years than I have visited, oh I don't know, Chicago. Anyway, in one of the last visits, we went to a German restaurant for dinner. My three nephews are 6, 3 and 6 months old. The two older ones got a bit noisy and the waiter came by and told them to be quiet. Apparently, it is quite normal when kids become unruly or noisy for waitresses to come by, pick the kids up by their collars and bring them to the door and say: well what will it be - quiet or out?

Has anyone experienced something similar? Is it really that way all over Germany? I've seen it only this one time and my sister could not enlighten me further. Not a bad idea actually. Now that I own a coffee shop, I know I wouldn't want rambunctious kids to ruin the coffee experience of my adult customers. And in the courtroom, of course, anybody (kid or adult) will be asked to leave if they cannot comport themselves properly.

In most cases, yes it is normal. Coming from Europe, I can tell you that a lot of people will tell you what they think. I know it may be perceived as rude here but that's how some people are over there. It's the joke in my wife's family to ask for my opinion on anything because I will give them an honest answer. Sometimes their jaw just drops. It took them some time to get used.

On another note, Europeans have either no kids or kids very late. They are not very receptive to children. A lot of them don't understand what it is like to raise children in the first place and may give you a hard time thinking you may be a bad parent. I took my family last christmas and it felt strange to be the only one in my late 20s to have a child. That's when I realized that on this level there is a big difference between Europe and the States. I will say that, yes, people here in the States are definitely better with children. Hands down.

Yeah, I lived in Italy for years and traveled extensively in Germany and Europe in general. Europeans certainly love their children and, in my experience, have a strong, inspiring sense of family. But they keep the adult space carved out, for sure.

If you think of the places that are the hardest to relax in and enjoy if you have your kids with you, those are the places Europeans tend to keep children out of: bars, more formal dining places, and less formal dining places at more formal hours.

the real question is, were they hot?

[the waitresses, not the kids :X]

Having lived in Germany nearly six years I will say, it depends. So many restaurants around here look quite nice, even if they are family friendly and very casual, that gives a false sense of... security, that all dining establishments are open and casual. There are places that, just like in the US, you probably don't want to bring your kids.

We have a couple restaurants by our house that are very kid friendly, and we stumbled upon a very trendy spot along the Rhine in Dusseldorf that I thought may be kid inappropriate but the staff loved our daughter.

I will say that the waitress was behaving in a very "traditional German" sort of way. I see people behave in similar fashions all the time, and I always think that those are the types of people and personalities that brought a rise to national socialism (harsh, I know).

There are plenty of good hearted, warm, friendly, Germans who will welcome kids into their restaurants, but as "bubi" alluded to above, it is going to be those waiters and waitresses and restaurant owners who have kids.

I was in a similar situation this summer flying to and from Frankfurt. Leaving Germany there were five or six families on the aircraft (lots of kids, quite loud, lots of crying, lots of bustling around); but no one seemed to mind and quite a few people traveling without kids seemed to get a kick out of the families. Hey, kids just have a way of making people happy. It made our first flight with our 15 month old very easy. Coming back, I think we were the only family. It was late, the flight was full, my daughter was a champ from Denver all the way to take off from JFK, but once we hit cruise she was done. She wanted to be held, or walked around, but moderate turbulence over the north Atlantic made that impossible as I insisted she stay buckled up in her seat. A flight attendant (who my German wife insisted was German by her accent and attitude) told my wife to pick her up and walk her around (during the moderate turbulence with the seat belt sign on). Very rude, very in appropriate, and very disappointing.

It happens, it is an indicator of a despicable part of the German culture and some individual attitudes in this country, but by no means is it indicative of all Germans.

Tangentially....
 

Mike Myers told the story of the genesis of his character "Deiter":

When he was a kid in Toronto he and his freinds went to the same place every day. Every day he ordered a coke and a hotdog. There was a German waiter there who, one day, finally told Myers that "Your order has become tiresome." But you have to say it with the accent or it isn't funny.

YouTube - Sprockets Dance

YouTube - Mke Myers: Kurt & Dieter

Haha!

in the old days, when kids misbehaved, they would be conscripted in the hitler youth.

edited, deleted. I am displeased with the way you impose your children on others and expect us to bend over while your little banshee makes us deaf.