A seemingly innocuous notice by a coffee shop in Đà Nẵng has sparked polarizing responses from netizens across Vietnam.
Last Wednesday, Dream House Coffee in Cẩm Lệ District announced on their Facebook account that the cafe would stop accepting customers visiting with children under 12 years old, citing a range of reasons including a lack of dedicated space for children, concerns over loud tantrums affecting other patrons, and inability of staff to spend time babysitting.
The short post has clearly struck a nerve among Vietnamese cafe-goers, generating over 20,000 comments, 5,000 shares, and 40,000 likes on Facebook at the time of writing. Interestingly, the reactions have divided into two clear polar opposites: many frequent patrons applaud the cafe owner for taking a stringent stance against parents who do not take responsibility for their offspring in public places, while others chastise the notice for its blunt language and discrimination.
“Such an effective PR move to seek engagement, but the effect is the reverse. [I will] Unfollow and say bye bye to you [kissing emoji],” Trung Nguyễn, a commenter on the opposing camp, writes.
“Children making a mess in cafes is 100% something parents can control. Coffee shops are not responsible for and don’t have the capacity to show help parents babysit, so the best solution is to come up with rules like this,” Hạnh Đức Nguyễn writes in the comment section.
According to Dream House Coffee, the place was opened three years ago with a garden, cottagecore theme targeting Đà Nẵng resident seeking a relaxing environment to hang out, study or work.
“We already made a similar warning post back in April. The content was just to remind parents to look after their children, because we don’t have a kid-only zone. But that announcement was ignored,” a representative from the cafe told Zing. The warning was inspired by previous incidents where young patrons run around causing breakages, stomping on plants, and throwing rocks at one another and other customers.
“When such incidents happened, we tried to talk to their parents, but some were really nonchalant in disciplining their kids regarding how to behave in public. Many times we witnessed customers leaving because of the rowdiness of children.”
[Photo via Instagam user @dailangthangart]
