美國一家意大利高級餐廳從今年一月起禁止五歲以下兒童入內，雖然招致不少罵聲，但是實施新規后，餐廳客流量大增，沒有了“合家歡”，該餐廳的生意反而更紅火。

After receiving several complaints from loyal customers, the owner of an upscale Italian restaurant in Mooresville, North Carolina, has taken the controversial decision to ban children under the age of five. And, despite facing some backlash on social media, he claims that business has grown significantly.
美國北卡羅來納州穆爾斯維爾市的一家意大利高級餐廳在收到老顧客的不少投訴后，店主做出了禁止五歲以下兒童入內的決定，這一新規引發了爭議。不過，盡管這一決定在社交媒體上引發了一些網友的強烈抗議，但店主卻聲稱客流量有了大幅增長。

Caruso’s describes itself as a “traditional, classy, intimate” restaurant but young children crying, screaming or playing on iPads at full volume and disturbing the other diners apparently didn’t fit in too well in that picture. So the owner, Pasquale Caruso, adopted a “no child under five” policy in January 2017, to ensure that his upscale eatery lives up to its reputation.
Caruso's餐廳對自己的定位是“傳統、高檔、私人”，但是兒童的哭喊、尖叫、全音量外放平板聲音明顯會影響其他顧客，這就破壞了餐廳的理念。所以在2017年1月，店主帕斯奎爾?卡魯索制定了“五歲以下兒童不得入內”這一規定，由此保證他的高檔餐廳名副其實。

“I had several customers complain, get up and leave because children were bothering them, and the parents were doing nothing,” Caruso told the Mooresville Gazette. “It started to feel like it wasn’t Caruso’s anymore, that it was a local pizzeria instead.”
“因為熊孩子打擾到了別人，但是父母又不管，所以我的一些客人就投訴或起身走人。”卡魯索告訴《穆爾斯維爾報》，“讓人感覺Caruso's餐廳變了，變得跟普通披薩店沒什么區別。”

Caruso added that he didn’t like taking this kind of decision, but in the end, he had to do what was best for his business. ‘I try to please everyone, and create a nice atmosphere, keeping the restaurant elegant. I want it to be a place where couples and friends can have a nice evening out,” he said. “I was starting to lose money and customers, because I had very young children coming in, throwing food, running around and screaming.”
卡魯索還說，其實他也不想做這種決定，但是最后為了餐廳，他不得不采取最佳解決方案。他說：“我試圖讓所有的客人都開開心心的，給他們創造一個精致的氛圍，優雅的環境。我希望情侶和密友能在這里享受一頓愉快的晚餐。之前，這里有很多小孩子，他們亂丟食物，跑來跑去，大聲尖叫，很多客人都不來了，收入也少了。”

Yoshi Nunez, the restaurant’s manager, told the Washington Post that the final straw was a little girl using an iPad with the volume on high. Despite repeated requests from the staff, her parents refused to turn down the device, so they had to ask them to leave. “They were upset, but they didn’t seem to care about what the other guests thought. We tried to be nice about the situation, but we’re here to take care of customers and we can’t tell a parent how to control their kids,” he said.
餐廳經理廖申?努涅斯告訴《華盛頓郵報》，他們最終決定采取這個措施是因為有個小女孩在餐廳里用平板電腦，聲音開得特別大。工作人員提醒多次，但是小女孩的父母不愿意調低音量，所以工作人員就請他們離開了餐廳。“他們挺不開心的，但是他們似乎不關心別人的感受。我們嘗試友善地處理這個問題，但是我們要顧及所有的客人，也不可能告訴父母要怎么才能管好他們的小孩。”他說。

So in January, Caruso’s made the decision to ban children under the age of five. Since then, people have been voicing their opinions on the restaurant’s unofficial Facebook page, with many labeling the policy as a form of discrimination.
所以在1月份的時候，Caruso's就決定禁止五歲以下的兒童入內。自那以后，人們就在餐廳的非官方臉書主頁上留言，很多人給這條規定貼上了歧視標簽。

“How you are legally allowed to discriminate amazes me!” one person wrote. “Next you will be kicking out all the elderly because they take too long to eat. Slippery slope!”
“你們怎么能正大光明地允許歧視呢？難以置信！”一條留言如是寫道，“下次你們就會因為老年人呆的時間太久把他們趕出去了！道德淪喪！”

“Now that you have banned small children, who is next: blacks, Jews, native people? Shame on you!” another Facebook user commented.
“你們這次是不許小孩子進來，下次又不讓誰進呢？黑人？猶太人？土著人？真可恥！”另一位臉書用戶評論道。

But for every critical comment, there are several that congratulate Caruso’s for taking such a brave, albeit controversial decision. “Thank you for taking a stand,” several people wrote on its Facebook page.
除了這些批評指責，還是有一些人認為這一規定雖然備受爭議，但是餐廳做得非常勇敢，他們對餐廳表示祝賀。“謝謝你們能站出來反對這件事。”一些人在該餐廳的臉書主頁上寫道。

“I’m the parent of 5… don’t bring little ones to a nice restaurant and expect them to quietly sit still for an hour. They CAN’T DO IT,” one person posted.
“我是一個五歲孩子的家長……別把小孩帶到高檔餐廳里去，別指望他們能安安靜靜地坐上一個小時。他們做！不！到！”有人發表評論說。

“When my husband and I go out to dine, we also do not want to hear children crying or misbehaving,” another said, adding that the limit should be upped to 10-year-old children.
“我跟丈夫一起出去吃晚飯的時候，也不想聽到有孩子大哭大鬧，不想看到他們胡鬧。”另一個人說，他還說年齡限制應該提高到十歲。

Pasquale Caruso claims that the online support for his controversial policy is reflected in the success of his business. The number of reservations has risen significantly since words got out about the restaurant’s no-child rule, and the number of patrons has gone from 50 a day, to around 80.
帕斯奎爾?卡魯索說，雖然這一規定備受爭議，但是他的生意越來越好，能看出來人們還是支持他的。對兒童的限制政策傳出后，預約人數大量增加，以前一天有50位客人，現在能到80位左右。

“People don’t want to come in and spend money on a nice meal and an evening out, when there’s constantly food on the floor, loud electronic devices keeping kids entertained, and small children screaming. It was just the right decision for my business,” Caruso concluded.
“如果地上都是食物殘渣，孩子們為了開心又把電子設備的音量調到很高，小孩子大叫大鬧，人們就不會想進來花錢吃一頓精致的晚餐，不會想來這里約會。這個決定對我的餐廳來說，是正確的。”卡魯索最后說道。

According to Eater, Caruso’s isn’t the first restaurant to adopt a no-child policy. Restaurants in Texas, Pennsylvania, California and countries like Italy, Australia or Korea have also banned young children or implemented measures for their control.
根據芝加哥美食雜志《Eater》的報道，Caruso's不是第一家禁止兒童入內的餐廳。德克薩斯州、賓夕法尼亞州和加州都有餐廳采取了這項規定，意大利、澳大利亞和韓國的一些餐廳也禁止兒童入內或對兒童采取限制措施。

英文來源：odditycentral
翻譯：張鈺（中國日報網愛新聞iNews譯者）
編審：丹妮