Cafe owner publicly shames mom for her messy children by posting picture of crumb-filled floor on Facebook



A coffee shop owner who had had enough of one mother's messy toddlers, asking them to leave before sharing a picture of the mess online, has come under fire for publicly shaming the family.

Lorraine MacDuff, who owns and runs Rainy Days Caffé in Washington's Lake Stevens, snapped a photo of the children's crumbs and posted it on Facebook.

Now, angry mothers, who believe Rainy Days Caffé s hould be more tolerant towards children, have attacked Mrs MacDuff and her shop .

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Online humiliation: Lorraine MacDuff, who owns and runs Rainy Days Caffé in Washington's Lake Stevens, snapped a photo of the children's mess and posted it on Facebook

'Somebody threatened to drag me behind their truck,' Mrs MacDuff told local news station Q13 Fox . 'I’ve had people threaten to picket my business.'



The children’s mother, Kellea Poore, said she was shocked to see the photo on Facebook, under which Mrs MacDuff had written : 'Like to take a moment right now to thank our customers with small children whose kids don’t make a mess.'



Mrs MacDuff, who later apologized on Facebook for 'any embarrassment [the photo] might have caused anyone,' told Q13 Fox that the post was supposed to be 'something snarky and funny .'

Mrs Poore, whose husband is currently serving in the military abroad, had purchased scones for her children at the cafe.

' There were scone crumbs. . . What would she have done if I had accidentally spilled my coffee?'

She recalled to King 5 news: 'I had my one-year-old in my lap and my three-year-old sitting in the chair next to me.

'The woman came up and she basically told us there was going to be a worker coming over and she was going to vacuum up the mess and that they had just spent $50 cleaning the carpets and she didn't appreciate us making such a mess, and that next time if we decided to come in, not to bring our kids.'

Mrs Poore said she was humiliated by the comment, and left quickly with her children.

Watch more video at King 5

Embarrassed: The children's mother, Kellea Poore, said she was shocked to see the photo on Facebook

'My kids weren't throwing food, stomping on it (they were both still sitting), or screaming, or anything... There were scone crumbs, and anyone who's ever eaten one knows what I mean,' she wrote on Facebook.

'What would she have done if I had accidentally spilled my coffee?'



Local mothers, who believe that cafe's need to be more tolerant of young children, took to Facebook to express their support for Mrs Poore.

Courtney Ruane wrote: The children were 3 and 1. No where did it state they were misbehaving, rude and disrespectful. . . Young children are going to leave some crumbs when eating a scone.

'Let me tell you, I have seen even bigger messes in other establishments from adults.'

Fed up: Mrs MacDuff, who later apologized on Facebook for 'any embarrassment [the photo] might have caused anyone,' told Q13 Fox that the post was supposed to be 'something snarky and funny'

Another woman, Michelle Davis, exclaimed: ' This is outrageous! I have worked in restaurants most of my life and cleaned up a lot of messes from children, it is to be part of the job.

This is discrimination of the worst kind! You don't deserve to have a business if you don't want a mess now and then.'

Mrs Poore, who has seen Mrs MacDuff's apology on Facebook, called it 'half an apology.'