Tourists

ForestFire

Just like an opinion on this.

We where around lazlo's jewlers today where there was some street entertainment.

Our 3 year old daughter had a tub of ice cream ( bubblegum and mint) and sat on the seat with the two old men (statues -Oscar and didn't get the other fellows name:o).

There was another lady sitting beside her so my wife was standing in front and I was behind.

Here's the point...

Some tourists asked both would they mind getting up so they could take a picture. The lady got up and so too did my daughter without really thinking.

When they finished my daughter sat back down again with her ice cream. Some more tourists followed in and said to themselves or us? We were going to get a picture too.

I said nothing and they said nothing but stayed standing there waiting, eventually asking could we move.

At this point I said, look this is a 3 year old girl sitting on a seat eating her ice cream. She is not moving again until she is ready.

Few minutes later same thing happened again just as she was finishing.

Just to note also there are no other seats I

Would you move? Would you move your child?
If you were in a park would you move if sitting beside a fountain, statue or similar?

Would you ask a 3 year old girl sitting on a seat and using it to eat to move for a picture?

Thanks

degsie

I would move for a small fee!

Mrs OBumble

Would you rather they took a photo of the statues with your kid sitting there?

There's no street furniture around because it's Ireland and it having it would encourage anti-social behaviour. The statues are not a seat, they are a tourist attraction. Love 'em or hate 'em, tourists are one of Galway's cash cows.

If your kid needs to sit down in order to eat ice-cream, then buy it in Supermacs or suchlike which provides sit-down areas.

ForestFire

Mrs OBumble wrote: »

Would you rather they took a photo of the statues with your kid sitting there?

There's no street furniture around because it's Ireland and it having it would encourage anti-social behaviour. The statues are not a seat, they are a tourist attraction. Love 'em or hate 'em, tourists are one of Galway's cash cows.

If your kid needs to sit down in order to eat ice-cream, then buy it in Supermacs or suchlike which provides sit-down areas.

I'm sorry but it is a seat, there are no others anywhere near and she was watching street show. I have often seen people eat there lunches there and use it as a seat all the time.

What right has anyone to tell us to move?

So do you want to shut down the small dedicated ice cream businesses that sell real ice cream, for cheap crap like fast food places as they have no seats?

This is a 3 year old toddler remember, In the middle of having her treat for the day, how exactly would you explain to her that she must give up her seat at a whim?

and I'll buy my ice cream where I like thank you, no long cues, treated lovely by the 2 staff members offer loads of sample tastes, and supporting small businesses in Galway ...

I case anyone interested, highly recommended

http://www.ginosgelato.com/our-locations/galway/

HONKEY TONK

You sound like a drama queen

Bench has statues on it. Tourists like photographing statues.

Show some hospitality and let them take the photos.

Boggy Turf

ForestFire wrote: »

Just like an opinion on this.

We where around lazlo's jewlers today where there was some street entertainment.

Our 3 year old daughter had a tub of ice cream ( bubblegum and mint) and sat on the seat with the two old men (statues -Oscar and didn't get the other fellows name:o).

There was another lady sitting beside her so my wife was standing in front and I was behind.

Here's the point...

Some tourists asked both would they mind getting up so they could take a picture. The lady got up and so too did my daughter without really thinking.

When they finished my daughter sat back down again with her ice cream. Some more tourists followed in and said to themselves or us? We were going to get a picture too.

I said nothing and they said nothing but stayed standing there waiting, eventually asking could we move.

At this point I said, look this is a 3 year old girl sitting on a seat eating her ice cream. She is not moving again until she is ready.

Few minutes later same thing happened again just as she was finishing.

Just to note also there are no other seats I

Would you move? Would you move your child?
If you were in a park would you move if sitting beside a fountain, statue or similar?

Would you ask a 3 year old girl sitting on a seat and using it to eat to move for a picture?

Thanks

No I would not have moved my daughter. It is a seat and I often see people sitting there. The tourists can come back when it's empty.
If they really want an empty picture, Google Images is your friend...;)

Wompa1

I wouldn't let my kid sit on that!!

You see the carry on during the night?

Also, Galway is a tourist town. It has nothing else going for it. Assuming it's still the case but the single largest employer in the city was the University. Need private money to pay for that. When I lived in Galway, I saw the tourists as a blessing. They also add a bit of a different outlook to the place. It's not just miserable auld f*cks complaining about the place.

P.S. Plenty of seating in the shopping center just up the road and a few benches in Eyre Square. Again, I wouldn't have my kid sit on the statue for hygiene reasons.

Also, in one post you said you were asked to move. Then in the other you said you were told to move. Big difference. Getting p1ssed off because somebody asked makes you seem like a bit of an arse.

ForestFire

Wompa1 wrote: »

I wouldn't let my kid sit on that!!

You see the carry on during the night

P.S. Plenty of seating in the shopping center just up the road and a few benches in Eyre Square. Again, I wouldn't have my kid sit on the statue for hygiene reasons.

I'll take some of the more interesting advice on board:)

As for other seats, we were enjoying the little bit of sun heat and the show

ForestFire

HONKEY TONK wrote: »

You sound like a drama queen

Bench has statues on it. Tourists like photographing statues.

Show some hospitality and let them take the photos.

3year old repeatly asked to get up from HER seat. I was sticking up for her. You did not see the confused look on her face

ForestFire

Wompa1 wrote: »

Also, in one post you said you were asked to move. Then in the other you said you were told to move. Big difference. Getting p1ssed off because somebody asked makes you seem like a bit of an arse.

Second post could be changed technically to asked, but it was just a separate question really.

Also when you stand over a 3 year old, first making a comment ,waiting and waiting and then asking... if feels like being told

HONKEY TONK

ForestFire wrote: »

3year old repeatly asked to get up from HER seat. I was sticking up for her. You did not see the confused look on her face

YOU sat her on a bench that is obviously a tourist attraction, Hence many people taking photos of it.

Do you really find it that difficult to be aware of your surroundings?

ForestFire

HONKEY TONK wrote: »

YOU sat her on a bench that is obviously a tourist attraction, Hence many people taking photos of it.

Do you really find it that difficult to be aware of your surroundings?

She sat on it herself, might be hard to imagine but she has a mind of her own and she actually likes that bench, is she not allowed enjoy it?

Mrs OBumble

If you didn't want our opinions, why did you ask?

ForestFire wrote: »

So do you want to shut down the small dedicated ice cream businesses that sell real ice cream, for cheap crap like fast food places as they have no seats?

Gino's may look small cutesy and independent. But really it's a junk-food chain store from Dublin. Supermacs is a junk-food chain store from Galway. Buy local and all.

And you didn't answer - would you have preferred the tourists to take their pix with your kid sitting on the statue? Really?

degsie

Who in their right mind would place their daughter between these two....?

ForestFire

Mrs OBumble wrote: »

If you didn't want our opinions, why did you ask?







Gino's may look small cutesy and independent. But really it's a junk-food chain store from Dublin. Supermacs is a junk-food chain store from Galway. Buy local and all.

And you didn't answer - would you have preferred the tourists to take their pix with your kid sitting on the statue? Really?

Just because I asked does not mean I have to agree or not debate them.

You said galway is cash cow for tourists. Well they come and go very quickly you know.

My daughter goes in at least every second week and supports multiple businesses hiring local people, walks the streets enjoys the entertainment and gives the acts some money.

And she will be there next week too.

And we still prefer the ginos experience for ice cream. We support supermacs on other occasions when it suits us, not them or you or the tourists.

Maybe I should just teach her if someone bigger and older than you tried to intimidate you of your seat just roll over and take it. And just so you know we always teach her to be nice and share etc. And she did moved for the first people but there comes a point when you have to stand up for yourself.

As for the pictures, she is on the street and dances in front of the acts every week, I imagine she is in a few pics and videos already, so unless I go down the Michael Jackson route what do you suggest.

maudgonner

The statue was a gift to Galway from the people of Estonia, as far as I know. So I reckon the tourists have as much right to it as locals

ForestFire

degsie wrote: »

Who in their right

They do look a bit dodgy alright, as i said she likes that seat, and has even been up on there laps:eek:, I know, I know...we will have to explain that one much later to her I hope

I think the hygiene, nightlife:rolleyes: info may be the only think for us to think twice about it in future.

ForestFire

maudgonner wrote: »

The statue was a gift to Galway from the people of Estonia, as far as I know. So I reckon the tourists have as much right to it as locals

But only the Estonians??

Wait though...That's not how a gift works....i don't buy my wife a ps4 gift and then say I can use it too...i don't think that would go down too well:)

In fact what you are really saying is that it was gifted to my daughter..thanks

jam83

ForestFire wrote: »

Just because I asked does not mean I have to agree or not debate them.

You said galway is cash cow for tourists. Well they come and go very quickly you know.

My daughter goes in at least every second week and supports multiple businesses hiring local people, walks the streets enjoys the entertainment and gives the acts some money.

And she will be there next week too.

And we still prefer the ginos experience for ice cream. We support supermacs on other occasions when it suits us, not them or you or the tourists.

Maybe I should just teach her if someone bigger and older than you tried to intimidate you of your seat just roll over and take it. And just so you know we always teach her to be nice and share etc. And she did moved for the first people but there comes a point when you have to stand up for yourself.

As for the pictures, she is on the street and dances in front of the acts every week, I imagine she is in a few pics and videos already, so unless I go down the Michael Jackson route what do you suggest.

You have to be joking! You sat your child down on an attraction. It's not an ordinary park bench, it's quite obviously something that tourists take photos of.

If you are in town with your daughter as much as you say, you have surely noticed that it's nearly always used for people posing for photos?
You sound like a nightmare.
Telling tourists to jog on from a tourist attraction because your little bundle of joy is sitting there? <SNIP>

jam83

Boggy Turf wrote: »

No I would not have moved my daughter. It is a seat and I often see people sitting there. The tourists can come back when it's empty.
If they really want an empty picture, Google Images is your friend...;)

Based on this you've never been anywhere as a tourist.
The most stupid narrow minded answer imaginable.

ForestFire

maudgonner wrote: »

Is your daughter Galway? I hadn't realised...


You clearly haven't posted (on a discussion forum) with any view to a discussion or hearing people's opinions, just want to moan about the mean tourists. Maybe you should take it to Ranting & Raving instead. Or talk to Joe?

You clearly don't see that not everything I post or read is taken serious,
I taught the smily faces showed I was only joking a bit...

mcsaddle

I noticed that the finishing work on the last batch of picture frames was unusually rough. I know the quality of work that you personally produce is superb, so I am wondering what the problem may be in your group. Would you please monitor the production of this next order very carefully to see where the problem is?

As you know, careful attention to quality control is what has helped us gain our large market share, and we can't afford to let up now when we hope to expand abroad.

Thank you in advance for following through on this. Please let me know what you find out.

maudgonner

ForestFire wrote: »

You clearly don't see that not everything I post or read is taken serious,
I taught the smily faces showed I was only joking a bit...

I deleted my post as I felt it was probably a bit too strong. But no, smilies don't counteract the fact that you don't seem to be actually looking for opinions, despite the first line of the OP.

inisboffin

maudgonner wrote: »

The statue was a gift to Galway from the people of Estonia, as far as I know. So I reckon the tourists have as much right to it as locals

Nail on head. If the little kid got there first, then she should stay until she's finished her ice cream. Not a huge deal. It's for everyone.

It's public art. There are no rules (within reason) about how you interact with it. I LOVE that it's functional as a seat and think it should be used as that occasionally (as opposed to just *pretending* you're sitting there for a photo. If someone hogs it for an hour that's one thing but to ask a kid eating an ice cream to move? I think that's a bit ignorant.

jam83

Who ''pretends'' to sit down on a bench for a photo? The bench is part of the whole sculpture, and everyone knows people use it for photo opportunities.

Nobody I know would see that as a seat as such. It's a sculpture or attraction that gets a lot of attention and what peace would you have sitting there?

Sitting a child there is inviting bother on yourself and the OP must like a bit of confrontation.

Thinking that he was teaching the child how to stand up for itself is nonsense. It didn't sound like tourists had been rude towards them. On a busy Saturday in May, it was selfish and rude to do what the OP did. Go up to eyre square and sit on a proper park bench to eat the ice cream.
Come back down after and listen to the music.

handlemaster

OP needs to chill out

gordongekko

ForestFire wrote: »

My daughter goes in at least every second week and supports multiple businesses hiring local people, walks the streets enjoys the entertainment and gives the acts some money.

How much money is your 3 yr old spending that we can get rid of the tourists and rely on her visit every two weeks?

doolox

It seems the issue arose when the lady was asked to move her daughter on more than one occasion by a succession of tourists.

When I lived in Galway I was asked to take photographs, answer questions etc by the multitudes which come to the city each Summer. As stated elsewhere in this thread, tourists bring a lot of life and variety to an otherwise climatically dull and confined city but they can be overwhelming at times.

My reading of the situation is that a tired toddler is perfectly entitled to sit for 10-15 minutes or whatever length of time it takes to finish an ice cream without being disturbed by other members of the public.

It is a public facility and people should wait their turn.

Some cultures however expect children to move in deference to their "superiors" at their every beck and call and this cultural difference between the Irish and other nations could be at play here. Were the tourists old?
I find that old Tourists can be very demanding and feel entitled to have seats given up to them or doors opened or to skip queues and can find the less formal attitudes of the Irish to be off putting. I received numerous complaints about this especially from old Americans who expect food to be brought down to their tables in very busy bars or seats to be given up to them etc.. unfortunately, this won't happen in Galway.

In other cultures children are very much treated like second class citizens and will not be allowed to get in the way of adults in whatever they want to do.

ForestFire

jam83 wrote: »

Who ''pretends'' to sit down on a bench for a photo? The bench is part of the whole sculpture, and everyone knows people use it for photo opportunities.

Nobody I know would see that as a seat as such. It's a sculpture or attraction that gets a lot of attention and what peace would you have sitting there?

Sitting a child there is inviting bother on yourself and the OP must like a bit of confrontation.

Thinking that he was teaching the child how to stand up for itself is nonsense. It didn't sound like tourists had been rude towards them. On a busy Saturday in May, it was selfish and rude to do what the OP did. Go up to eyre square and sit on a proper park bench to eat the ice cream.
Come back down after and listen to the music.

Again I clarify a few points.

She wanted to stop and see what was happing in show. She choose to sit on the seat and neither myself or my wife sat on seat.
Is she not allowed use enjoy seat, how did we look for confrontaion by allowing her to enjoy her day? There were no tourist or picture talking when we arrived.

If this was a group of teens or some big bikers or some of the numerous hens stags do you think they would ask them to leave? They picked on a 3 year old stood over her so yes I would say they were rude. We only asked them could they wait until she finishes her ice cream, she had already been up once.

You ask a 3 year old to walk to Eyre square and back, why can't the tourists walk around and come back in a few mins

This is our city to enjoy too, and the seat is used as a seat all the time. I have seen numerous people eat the sandwiches there.

We we not stuck on the seat all day.

ForestFire

gordongekko wrote: »

How much money is your 3 yr old spending that we can get rid of the tourists and rely on her visit every two weeks?

She spends a lot more than the tourist that asked her to move, she did not stop every tourist that ever visits and she was only there for 10mins

Do you know the cost or raising a child

We actually got our engagement ring right there in Lazlos

ben.schlomo

doolox wrote: »

It seems the issue arose when the lady was asked to move her daughter on more than one occasion by a succession of tourists.

When I lived in Galway I was asked to take photographs, answer questions etc by the multitudes which come to the city each Summer. As stated elsewhere in this thread, tourists bring a lot of life and variety to an otherwise climatically dull and confined city but they can be overwhelming at times.

My reading of the situation is that a tired toddler is perfectly entitled to sit for 10-15 minutes or whatever length of time it takes to finish an ice cream without being disturbed by other members of the public.

It is a public facility and people should wait their turn.

Some cultures however expect children to move in deference to their "superiors" at their every beck and call and this cultural difference between the Irish and other nations could be at play here. Were the tourists old?
I find that old Tourists can be very demanding and feel entitled to have seats given up to them or doors opened or to skip queues and can find the less formal attitudes of the Irish to be off putting. I received numerous complaints about this especially from old Americans who expect food to be brought down to their tables in very busy bars or seats to be given up to them etc.. unfortunately, this won't happen in Galway.

In other cultures children are very much treated like second class citizens and will not be allowed to get in the way of adults in whatever they want to do.

It's not a public facility. It's not a toilet or Park bench or parking space. It's a sculpture which is pictured by hundreds/thousands every day at this time of year. It was naive in the extreme by the OP to just assume they weren't going to have people want to photograph it. And their reaction sounds like someone who wants an argument and is easily offended. The city is built on, and relies on tourism, there are lots of areas in it to go and have a sit down without tourists wanting to take photos of them e.g. the Waterside, Spanish Arch, Eyre Square, ESC, Long Walk and all along the river.