I was at a sports bar watching UFC fights on a Saturday afternoon. It was pretty dead until around five when the early dinner crowd started arriving. One family came in and asked their waitress if they could switch the large projector screen from the fights. She came over and asked me, and I said it was fine as long as they put the fights on another tv.

The family had the main tv switched to ESPN, which had one of their special documentaries on at that time rather than live sports. Then the family asked if they could switch the smaller tv that I had just had switched to the fights. The waitress said no since they’d already requested another tv. The family was annoyed and asked for the manager.

When the manager got to their table the father demanded that the fights be changed so their son, who was probably around 8, couldn’t see the fights since they were violent and not family friendly. The manager tried to calm the family by moving the fights to a tv behind their son, which I would’ve been fine with. However, the father demanded that the fights couldn’t be on any tv as long as the family was at the sports bar. Then he accused the manager of not caring about young children for insisting that the fights remain on somewhere.

The manager nodded and said he’d get the tv sorted out. Then he also asked the father if he should change the music playing since it was pop. The father grunted about that being nice, and how the manager was finally being responsible and looking out for children.

T while this was happening the manager sent the family’s waitress over to put their order in. Then once their order was in the system the manager switched the tv again. He put the UFC fights back on the main tv, but this time he turned the sound on as well since the pop music could be bad for children.

The father started loudly complaining again and called the manager back over. He demanded that the tv be changed again, and when the manager said no the father demanded to speak to the owner. The manager said he’d get the owner, but it may take a few minutes.

The manager changed into a sport coat and came back over. It turned out he was a part owner of the sports bar. Now the father really lost and said his family was leaving. The owner calmly asked if he should have the family’s meals changed to takeout orders. The father said they were leaving and wouldn’t pay for the food the family had ordered. The owner said the family had to pay for their meals since they weee already being cooked. The father continued arguing until the owner threatened to call the cops if they left without paying. The family ended up paying, but left when their food came several minutes later. Until they left, the father made the son sit there with his eyes closed and ears covered so he wasn’t exposed to the fight. I busted out laughing once the family left.