Q: My husband wants to bring our five- and seven-year-old sons to a baseball game. But the last time we went, the man behind us kept shouting obscenities, and our kids got an earful. I know it’s a free country, but I also want to protect my children. Help!
A: There’s at least one loudmouth in every crowd, and usually many more at sporting events. Unfortunately, beyond glancing over or making a polite request (“Could you please tone it down for the kids’ sake?”), there’s not much you can do to change a stranger’s ways. In fact, there’s a chance that your request could spark an unpleasant confrontation, so your best bet is to move to other seats. None available? Then turn the incident into a learning experience for you children, telling them that, in your family, such language is out of bounds-and that even in baseball terms, this man’s attitude stinks in terms of bad sportsmanship.
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Just as in a theatre, this is a time to utilize the services of an usher or attendant in putting this person on notice his behavior must change, or HE will be asked to leave. Of course, this still subjects the innocent party to being seated in front of him, and so the attendant should move the loudmouth to another seat. The innocent should not be the ones who have to move. Stadium management should have a proactive standard operating procedure in place for their employees to follow in this type of situation.