So I am in the Borgata Casino / Hotel in Atlantic City. We saw Jeff Dunham (he was great, by the way) and ate dinner and now my mom and grandparents want to go to gamble, and we (me and my brother) are not allowed to be anywhere near the casino part. So my mom asked a security guard if there was an arcade or game room or something that she could drop us off at so she could gamble. The security guard said "No. There is no game room. There is nothing for children whatsoever here." To me, it sounded rude and mean. It sounds like he is saying "Children shouldn't be here. Leave." What do you think? Am I looking at this wrong?

tgags123 : Well it does kinda sound like that, but you may also think that because you are child and to your point-of-view it will sound like they are against children.

But very hard to tell, because we don't know how the security guard said it. Because remember, what you say can mean two different things depending on your tone and attitude.

Matthew2321 : I agree with you here. This could either way, but we will never know because we do not know how the security guard said it.

Matthew2321 :

Well he could have meant it as a simple statement of fact, or rudely. Hard to say. I do think however that it could have easily been worded better. Like perhaps "No, we don't. Sorry". I mean that's public interaction 101, right? lol Really a staff member should always sound polite and overdo it when apologizing for a lack of a requested service. Maybe they get tired of it, but it's what they're paid to do.

So no, I can't say if he meant to be rude, but yes it could have been handled in a more polite manner.

I'm gonna disagree with everybody slightly by saying that it was mos def a rude response.  Being in the service industry an answer like that is unacceptable.  Even if those are the facts of it the monotone nature of his response is in itself rude.  A good response would have been more upbeat and included something like a nearby place that is good for kids or the like.  Remember though he could have been having a rough day or something and it is only that guard's opinion/attitude not the opinion of the place you were staying.

Interesting question.

It could have been rude, as if to say, why the heck would you bring your kids to a casino? Are you dumb?

Or it is also possible that the guy has been asked this question a million times already and hes just fed up about the fact that people dont think these things through.

Maybe hes one of those people who are just straight to the point, and instead of being all no, sorry, he was just getting all the information out at once so they wouldnt ask him more questions.

It is also possible that somebody sassed him with complaints that there should be a kids area so that the parents can go and gamble without worrying about their kids just before your mom asked. You never really know whats going through somebodys head unless they tell you.

To be honest, it is kind of hard to tell if I haven't heard it myself, but it depends on his tone, he could've been rather blunt and straight to the point about it, or he could've been rude about it. He should've said: "Sorry ma'am, there really isn't anything for kids to do here." and it would've been over and done with...maybe he didn't mean it that way, and it just came out bad, or he was just in a bad mood. Either way, I definitely think he could at least try and put forth the effort to sound a little more pleasant as a security guard. Anyway it's kind of hard to tell just by looking at words, nonetheless I'm sorry it happened man, I hope he get's fired XD just kidding.

I would think that is rude because I know some people who bring under aged people/ children to the casino. There should be a game room of some sort to keep children occupied (the casino/business place would get more money this way). The least the security guard should have done was to recommend a fun place for under aged people to play or hang out instead of leaving them with nothing and being bored. If there are more people who get rejected off like that, the casino will get a higher chance of losing people which means losing business and money. 

The original question was, "Is it rude?"

Maybe.  Tone and facial expressions and body language communicates much more than the word selection.  Probably, he saw a family with kids and thought, "Oh, God.  Kids."  He was technically polite and informed you there was nothing available.  He didn't go out of the way to say, "We have nothing but this place down the street has a spot for them."

However, it is usually a bad decision to bring children to casinos.  They're for adult entertainment and the last thing I want at a casino (or a bar, or an adult-friendly venue) are kids.  I go to those places to escape the families I deal with during my working hours.  There may have been signs that said no one under 21, or something like that.

Lastly, you're talking to a security guard who is dealing with things like security.  I bet if your mother had asked a different staff member or a casino rep, she would have had a better answer.  Security guards aren't in the business of being friendly and kind.  They're in the business of maintaining security.  Maybe he's not allowed to answer questions and he can't engage guests in a friendly manner.

fightorace : But he's not in the service industry, he's in the security industry. He gets paid to be tough when others are unable or incapable of being tough.

tgags, it could have been handled differently but the adults should have asked the concierge. You talk to the guard when somebody is acting suspicious or just stole your wallet. Er... yeah, what warmaker said!

thephantombrain :    I would have to say that he is still in the service industry.  He is there to serve the people of the casino, though his portion of the job is to focus on the security aspect of that service he is still there to serve the patrons.  Even police are considered the service industry how does that motto go "To protect and Serve!".  Also though it doesn't read that exactly well but I was also referring to my experience in the service industry and how it affects my responses, which means that I know that a monotone and short answer like that is just rude by any standards not just within the service industry.  How hard is it to carry a nice tone when talking to people?  Now I'm not trying to get into an argument here and as people said it would have improven chances of a better response by trying someone who's main job is to answer those types of questions.  I also pointed out that the guard might have just been in a bad mood.  In short just because your job is not to answer the question doesn't mean you can't be nice with your response.  If that guard was repeatededly rude to customers over questions like that even though they weren't security related he would not keep his job for long because he is still part of the casino staff and paid to treat the customers with respect (well at least the ones obeying the rules).

What warmaker said. The general traffic that casinos get is filled with people that do not want to have to deal with children. The tone does have something to do with it, and it was likely that the security guard was rude, but you really should not be asking security guards for information such as that. That is not what they are there for. 

warmaker : It was a hotel with a casino in it. There were a lot of kids there. Especially since Jeff Dunham was performing that night (which is why I was there). It's not like it was only a casino. I saw plenty of other kids.

I was planning on saying what warmaker said. Taking it a step further, its possible he thought gambling was a bad influence on children, and disaproved of your parents bringing you. Kind of like drinking or smoking around them. Setting a bad example.

thenumberone : Like I said above, it was a hotel with a casino in it. Not just a casino. And Jeff Dunham was performing there that night. And it isn't like we are five year olds, I am 15 and my brother is 13.

thenumberone :
tgags123 :

I agree with thenumberone.  It's a hotel, maybe they had a pool or something else to distract you two.  Even if they didn't, I don't know that it's the security guard's mission to be assisting.  Maybe the place was a little rough and he was disappointed your mother was trying to get you two in the place.

We don't know.  Maybe it was lovely.  But having young teens, who are impressionable, around gambling, cursing, smoking, and so on.

I just did research a few seconds and I found some interesting things.  It also looks like it's a hotel geared for adults.  I read an article that said security aggressively stops families with kids under 18 unless they can prove they're staying there.  The amenities seem to be geared to adults with high-end restaurants, spas, and water clubs.  

''The Borgata is for families of adults,'' said Michael Facenda, director of marketing services for the new hotel, which sticks up like a gold sliver in the city's north end. ''We cater to people over 21, and our product is for them.''  Mr. Facenda, the marketing services director at the Borgata, said his hotel and casino had settled on the no-children policy because executives saw children being left unattended in other lobbies while their parents were elsewhere, presumably gambling.

''We are trying to promote a spectrum of entertainment for adults,'' said Robert Stewart, the senior vice president for corporate communications at Park Place. ''This isn't to say that there aren't things in Atlantic City to do for kids - the beach and so forth. We want to show that there are good restaurants here, good shows. We have a bar on the beach now. We want as wide an audience as we can, but we don't think casinos and children mix.''

So, he wasn't rude.  He was simply enforcing the policy of the hotel.  Their marketing director says so himself.

Like tgags said, he's 15. But yes, I think that was kind of rude. Back in 2012, I had to live with relatives in Sacramento all summer who had gambling problems because of failing Spanish,(Worst summer ever, they tried to sell my Laptop for gambling money, and my Spanish teacher was some A**hat Portuguese woman that gave you a C- if you forgot 2 or 3 letters, and never have you a A unless you were from Texas.) And when I had to go to a casino, The guard at least pointed me to this Rec-Room thing and said it how to get there in a voice that didn't sound gruff, so yes, that was rude. That guard could have done much better, and he is just some impatient person that can't wait to retire as some Rich Person, and act like a A** to everyone while he can. Maybe my stupid former Spanish teacher and that guard should meet and see how bad a pair of A**ho's can act.

Well I agree and disagree because that guy was being very pushy but do you really want to be in a dirty place where you can smoke all you want and most of the people would probably be drunk and take it from your parents point of view would you like your child to see what they were doing and want to be a gambler when they get older

Personally, no, he was just pointing out that this place is no place for a child, maybe it was his tone of voice, but I personally wouldn't take offense to those words alone.