Scolding a Stranger's Child: Is It Ever Okay?

The debate is raging on Facebook after a diner owner yelled at her patron's crying baby.

A diner owner in Maine has come under fire after news that she screamed at a crying baby in her restaurant this weekend went viral.

Darla Neugebauer, who owns Marcy’s Diner in Portland, Maine, told Portland’s WCSH6 she tried to kick the child out of the diner after she started screaming and wouldn’t stop.

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Here’s what happened, says Darla: A couple came into the restaurant with their toddler and ordered three pancakes for the girl. When the pancakes arrived, Darla says the parents didn’t let the girl have them, and she then proceeded to cry for “nearly an hour.” (The girl’s mom, Tara Carson, later said her daughter cried for 10 minutes.)

“I slammed my hands on the counter, and I said, ‘this needs to stop!’ meaning her screaming,” said Darla. “I pointed at her, and she looked at me and she stopped. Her parents said ‘Are you screaming at a child?!’ Yes I am, and she shut up.”

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Tara tells WCSH that Darla said something more like “Shut the hell up!” adding, “I was in pure shock...I felt helpless as a mom.”

Tara later went on Facebook to post the following comment: “I had the worst experience at this establishment. The owner is an absolute lunatic and screamed in the face of my almost 2-year-old child because she was crying,” per the Portland Press Herald. (The post has been taken down.)

That started a Facebook war, with Darla responding, “Yes I am f—ing crazy and you are lucky I didn’t get really f—ing nuts because being physical is not something I cover from, male or female.”

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She added, “After your fourth attempt to shut her up, I asked you to pack up either your rotten child or take the so important pancakes to go...but NOOO you just sit there and let your f—ing screaming child go and piss off my staff and patrons! ...Your lesson today: Not everyone thinks you and your family are all that!”

Reactions to the showdown have been mixed.

Some have shown their support on Facebook for Darla:

And others haven’t been as thrilled:

Despite the backlash, Darla says she’s not sorry. “I might have used poor judgment,” she said. “I wouldn’t say I was sorry because it stopped.”