Can parents stop acting like every public space is their living room?

I’m so tired of going somewhere — a café, a bookstore, even the quiet corner of a mall — and instantly having it ruined by parents who act like their kid’s noise level is everyone else’s problem.

It’s always the same script: Kid is screaming, running, knocking things over. Parents are scrolling their phones. Everyone else is suffering in silence like it’s some kind of endurance test.

And when you do make eye contact because you’re being blasted by a screech at 120 decibels, suddenly you’re the rude one.

I’m sorry, but if I walked into a space and started yelling randomly, security would escort me out. A toddler does it? “Aww, they’re just expressing themselves!”

No. Please express that at home.

I’m not asking for silence everywhere. I’m asking parents to actually parent instead of treating the rest of us like unpaid background characters in their chaos.