Dear editor,
My adult daughter and I encountered an interesting situation while eating at Garfield’s last Friday. My daughters share a love of reading and it has been a habit of theirs to visit Bookland for a purchase once our order is placed. My daughter noticed that the gate to the mall was closed and it was only 7:30 in the evening. We asked our waitress about this, and she had the manager come to our table and explain.
Seems parents had been dropping off their young teenagers at Garfield’s outside entrance and the kids traipsed back and forth through the restaurant. Apparently some would sit at a table, place an order and then leave before paying for their food or drink. This was such a big problem, that the restaurant was forced to take this extreme action.
Now I don’t really fault the restaurant for being forced to take this action, but I do blame the mall management. I thought a policy was in place to stop this sort of problem involving unaccompanied teenagers, but apparently it has not.
About three weeks ago, I met some friends for a show at Wilcox Theater and was appalled by the behavior of kids running in front of the theater, talking loudly and just generally making a nuisance of themselves.
If parents can’t control their children, it seems to me that the mall security needs to clamp down on this situation before any more unnecessary restrictions are placed on the adult patrons.
Linda Walker
Vicksburg