Children in the workplace

It's fiscal quarter close at my workplace this week. People are on high alert, high stress, high everything. If you don't work in a business that has a fiscal quarter end you might not understand the incredible amount of work that goes along with this. On a normal day my job is high stress, but take that and double it...no triple it and you might have an idea.

We try to make things fun around here. So please don't think I'm a prude who goes to work and type, type, type, finance this, work to the third power that. We've had ugly Tshirt day, potlucks, and today we had a "beef off." We dress up for Halloween. We built (with WOOD and screws and nails) a giant present at Christmas time that you could ENTER. And we don't mind visitors to distract us from our work. Especially when you are a former employee! Old friend! Come sit by the fire and tell me a tale!

BUT.
(You had to know that was coming.)

When you bring your two toddlers in with you who are screaming and yelling and distracting my employees and being so loud people can't be off mute on their conference calls for a mere second, we have an issue. I know there was a blog post recently that caused everyone to go all wonky about some lady who said some snide comment in a grocery store about a screaming child. While I sympathize with parents and I don't necessarily think that woman had any right to make a comment like that to a stranger, I don't disagree.

I don't have children. This is part of the reason WHY I don't have children at this point in my life. I know this will piss some people off. I'm ok with that. I don't mean it personally. I know that you can't ALWAYS control your children. I'm not going to fault you for your child having a fit in the middle of Target (although to be fair, I probably will roll my eyes a bit). I just think maybe we be smart about it? When I'm going out to dinner at a fancy restaurant the last thing I want to hear is your child screaming in the booth next to me. Get a babysitter. If I'm at Applebees? Have at it. When I'm going to see an R rated movie, having your child bouncing in the seat in front of me is not going to make me happy. If I subject myself to seeing the Smurf's by all means, bounce away.

But I especially find fault with you at the workplace. Shame on you for not knowing better. Bring your child for a visit. I like to see little Jimmy's crusty face once in a while and see how you are doing. But ESPECIALLY being a former employee, good god, know the time and the place. And if your child starts acting up, that's your queue to start exiting stage left.