US restaurant owner refuses to apologise for shouting at crying toddler

Darla Neugebauer, owner of Marcy's Diner in Maine, said she regretted nothing because she got the toddler to stop crying

Darla Neugebauer said she shouted at a two-year-old for crying for nearly an hour (WCSH6/Youtube)

A restaurant owner who shouted at a crying toddler has resisted calls on social media for her to apologise.

Darla Neugebauer, who runs Marcy’s Diner in Maine, said she shouted at a two-year-old for crying for nearly an hour after her parents were unable to stop her despite them ordering food for her.

Writing on Facebook, the girl’s mother called Ms Neugebauer a “lunatic” and said she had “the worst experience at this establishment”.

According to WCSH6, after attempts to the get the family to leave or take the girl outside she finally snapped and slammed her hands down on the table and told the child to be quiet.

Mrs Carson, who was holidaying in the town and witnessed the incident, said: “I felt helpless as a mom that, you know, I couldn't do anything to help her, because I can't explain why there's crazy people in this world that behave like that.”

But Ms Neugebauer was unrepentant because the girl stopped crying and “that made her happy.”

She told local news station, K5: “I chose to yell at a kid, it made her shut up, which made me happy, it made my staff happy, it made the 75 other people dining here happy, and they left, they may never come back, other people may not come in. Their loss really.

“I might have used poor judgment. I wouldn’t say I was sorry, because it stopped.”

People on social media have rallied to the support of Ms Neugebauer with one person on Facebook commenting “People pay good money to go out and eat.‘They don’t need to hear a child screaming during their whole meal.”

Another said: “When I pay to go to a place to eat I don’t want to hear some kid screaming. More should do what she did.”