Rudeness Takes No Holiday

The other day I was eating at my new favorite Chinese buffet. The food is good, the decor tasteful, the atmosphere relatively serene for a family restaurant. Then, my enjoyment of my lunch was suddenly shattered by a baby screaming at the top of his or her lungs. Right in the booth in back of me. Mind you, I have no kids but have nothing against them in general. The problem I have is with the parents. Kids today are allowed to get away with things that, when I was young, back in the Stone Age, we would have been reamed for. Now, a little baby is different. What can you do when it cries? You can't spank an infant. What you CAN DO is take the unfortunate tyke out of the place, so everyone else can eat or do whatever in peace. Of course, this was no done. At least not for long. The mother made a couple token attempts to take the child out for a minute or so each time. I could still hear the baby cry. It never stopped. The father never got up except to fill up his plate with more food. The final straw was when the father propped up the baby on his shoulder and the kid let out a bloodcurdling scream RIGHT IN MY EAR. OK, motherfucker, this means war. I got up, and... moved five booths down. Up until recently, I would've yelled at the bastard for being so stupid and thoughtless. Instead, I told the management, who promptly did... nothing. Oh, they apologized to me. But nothing was said to the clueless parents, who obliviously chowed down. I finished my meal, left the place, and ruminated on what kind of a society we are becoming. I patted myself on the back for being so calm in handling the situation, and drove off feeling sorry for those children who are unlucky enough to have such incredible assholes for parents.