A little while ago I had the joy of taking my partner to a cat cafe that recently opened in our city. The rules very clearly state that children under age 10 are absolutely not allowed in the cat room without parental supervision. Which isn’t ideal, but it’s something.

Except “parental supervision” doesn’t really mean jack shit if the parents don’t care to supervise. A family with two kids came in about 5 minutes after we did and the kids (both very much under 10, because who cares about the rules) promptly started running riot in the cat room and grabbing at the cats willy-nilly while their parents just scrolled on their phones in a corner. All of the cats retreated into their hidey holes and we were incredibly disappointed – we wanted to spend time with them, but thanks to these two wombats the experience was completely ruined. My partner and I and a staff member all tried to (very gently) tell the kids to be gentle and were immediately met with glares from the parents until they were finally asked to leave.

Why anyone would be so irresponsible and not bother to control their kids is beyond me.