What started as a pleasant airport meal quickly turned into an unnecessarily rude and uncomfortable experience, all because a tired child resting during a long layover was treated like a problem.
Initially, we were greeted by the host, Charles Wallas, who was very kind at first, and our server was lovely. We ordered breakfast, everything felt normal, and at first the experience was completely fine.
My children and I had been traveling through the night on only about three hours of sleep after missing our connecting flight, and we were stuck on standby for the rest of the day. We were hungry, exhausted, and simply trying to get through a very difficult travel day. While my kids were still eating, I opened my laptop to do some work, and my 10 year old daughter rested her head on the bench because she was tired.
That was when everything shifted.
Charles came over and said, "No camping out." I honestly thought he was joking, so I laughed it off. At that point, we had not even paid our bill yet, and my children were still nibbling on their food, so I did not think he could possibly be serious.
About five minutes after we paid, while my kids were still finishing their meal, Charles came back and said again, "I said, no camping out." I told him I thought he was joking. His entire energy changed, and he then said we had been there for two hours, which was not accurate. It had only been a little over an hour. He followed that by saying, "This is not a lounge."
That completely changed the tone of the experience.
I understand that restaurants need table turnover if they are busy (this was not), even in an airport. But this was handled in a way that felt unnecessarily rude and lacking in empathy. My children were not being disruptive, not making a mess, and not bothering anyone. My daughter was simply exhausted and resting her head, and I was quietly doing some work while they finished eating.
Airport restaurants are not the same as neighborhood restaurants. Travelers are often dealing with delays, missed connections, long layovers, exhausted children, and very little sleep. Some people are in and out quickly, while others naturally take more time because they are stranded between flights. That is a normal part of airport travel. I have spent time in many airport restaurants during long layovers and have never been made to feel like I was being pushed out in this way.
After the negative interaction, I asked to speak to a manager, and Charles told me that he was the manager. It was only after speaking with another staff member that I learned he was actually the assistant manager, and then the actual manager, Nova, came out to speak with me. That added to my frustration, because it felt misleading on top of an already negative interaction.
To be fair, our server was lovely, I tipped her 26%, another staff member was very sweet to my children as we were leaving (gave them extra fortune cookies). Nova (the real manager) seemed genuinely taken aback and agreed the comment was unnecessary.
What made it worse was the way the interaction ended. As we were leaving, Charles said, "Have a nice day," but his tone came across as sarcastic rather than sincere. When I did not respond and simply shook my head, he repeated it again in the same tone, which felt dismissive and unprofessional.
I am sharing this because the issue was not the food, and it was not the server. The issue was how quickly the kindness disappeared and how a tired mother and her children were made to feel unwelcome. During an already exhausting travel day, that felt completely uncalled for. read more