AIBU to be angry my sister left my 16-year-old alone?

This.

If your DD is not yet mature enough to travel independently then you should have made it very clear to your sister.

Hopefully you've realised from this thread that most people would assume a 16 yo would be able to manage alone in London.

I would bet your sister didn't think it was expected to accompany a 16 yesr old back the way they came...

OP I think you are getting an unfair time here.
if Your DD isn’t used to finding her way around I can imagine you were concerned And understandably so. It’s hard getting used to the idea of our children navigating their way but she did well and you should be proud of her.

Yes I was thinking this.

Being connected to these people as a favour is something that you should be so grateful for @Rubexellen .

So many young people are struggling so much to break into employment at the moment - this was a huge networking favour and may open doors for your DD.

At 16 I would not expect my Dsis to stay and supervise such a meeting. If you are so protective, why didn't you go with her?

Also London is one of the easiest places to navigate - signs everywhere, maps everywhere, Tube station staff always available to answer questions and all in English!

Have you never taken your DD to London on the train? Brighton is not far out.

My DD is 12 and she has done train journeys Surrey to London (off peak admittedly) with instructions, a
phone and a requirement to confirm arrival and departure times etc

Does your DD know how to use Google maps / TFL go / etc?

Also, could she not have called you when the meeting ended?

I think you are being VVVVVU and if I was your sister and you went mad at me for this I would never, ever offer any networking opportunities like this ever again.

You need to thank your sister and encourage your DD to be more confident and resilient. She is very close to an age where she will be off to Uni.

I commuted into central London for two weeks on work experience at 15, I also got the bus or train to school. She's 16!!

Tubes would be utter chaos if parents were still accompanying all year 11s and under to school and back…

My 16 year old granddaughter can read a tube map, a paper map, use google maps and the TFL journey planner, and she lives bloody miles from London. She could also, I’m confident, walk back along a route she’d recently walked, or if she wasn’t sure, ask someone for directions. She could definitely have a chat with two people in a public place without needing her hand held.

If yours can’t, you need to be showing her how to navigate and find information about new places.

It was nice of your sister to arrange this, and good of her to meet your daughter and show her the route, and make the introductions. I think it’s unreasonable to expect anything else.

Im assuming your dd has a phone… tell her to use it.

My own 16 year old would be mortified to be babysat!

PFBs have to grow up eventually, OP.

She’s 16, not 6.

Instead of being angry at your sister you need to look inward and figure out why you haven’t sufficiently taught and guided your 16yo how to navigate Google Maps and be a bit more independent.

I used to go down to London at 16, with a female friend, to go round art galleries - about 1.5 hrs on the train, long before mobile phones and the like. Worked out in advance what tube trains we'd need etc. I don't remember anything alarming happening, other than once seeing Sarah Ferguson in the street 😆 Obviously everyone is different but it shouldn't be beyond an average 16 year old.

I voted YABU as 'furious' seems like an over reaction, but I think it's reasonable to be a bit irritated if you felt that the plan was for your sister to stay.

I wouldn't even do this with my own kids though , never mind some else's - it's embarrassing and would have inhibited the conversation with the young adults IMO.

It sounds like you should have clarified the arrangements properly with your sister.

And how did your DD feel about it?

At 16 I would’ve been delighted to be dropped in London for the day without a supervising adult, and would’ve taken the opportunity to piss off once I’d had the (hopefully fully comped?) coffee and chat. I’m always trying to get my 16 year old to be a bit more adventurous and this doesn’t seem like a particularly unsafe way of practicing using public transport. I think you’re overreacting op, but we all have different expectations for our kids!

This is very OTT. My divorced parents sent me on a 1 hour train to London. Expected me to use the tube and cross to the next major train station (Paddington) and get a 2 hour train to my other parent. I was 12. I managed just fine

I have two daughters around this age. I would be really grateful for the opportunity your DD got in your situation.

My elder DD at the same age headed into a US multinational based in a large city and had the opportunity to shadow a friend of mine for the day.

I was so very grateful. She made her own way up and down in the train it gave her an idea of a daily commute. I thought it was a really fantastic opportunity for her.

YABU to have such a helpless 16 year old.

Waiting for op to come back and declare the 16yo is blind/deaf/otherwise disabled and with learning difficulties..

Jk. Op won't be back.

Blimey, things have changed since I was young! At 16 I had been travelling all over the place by myself for about 3 years. Getting the last bus home from places about 20 plus miles away, walking down country lanes by myself at night, taking myself off to festivals.
Are you normally this overprotective?

Why on earth would a couple who were specifically asked by the OP’s sister to explain their work in immigration to the OP’s daughter over a coffee in a public place have ‘unpleasant intentions’?

Yeah, honestly this ought to be a situation a 16yo can deal with. Talking with adult strangers you have been introduced to without a familiar person around and navigating independently should to be something anyone that age is able manage. If she is planning on going to university or starting work in two years she needs to be prepared with these life skills .

I waiting for the drip feed of SEN or it was a typo and she is actually only 6yrs old 🙄

Are you serious? She’s 16. I had moved out at that age

I mean this kindly but is your daughter well known in the family as a complete incompetent? Ie if your sister knows this she should have taken greater care?

I can understand you being protective of your dd. Just because someone is 16 doesn’t mean they are suddenly experienced and confident at everything in life.

Dd didn’t panic, she asked for directions, they were lovely to accompany her - it all turned out fine. They weren’t strangers to your sister.

It’s normal and good for her to be a bit uncomfortable doing things for the first time. That’s how we learn and grow.