AIBU to expect parents to tidy up in cafés?

That’s the one. She ended up calling everyone on here fat cows or something

I owned a family restaurant in the 90s and used to do the cleaning myself. Never had any problems which makes me think people have just become more feral.
Here shocking tales from motel cleaners and yes, they say the women can be the worst.

Was that the thread where the OP stated off vaguely vulnerable and then started recounting the outrageous comments her husband made about the waitress due to her weight and tearing into posters who pointed out it was unacceptable?

It could also be a completely different one. There are so many fake batshit threads on here these days it's hard to keep up.

Modern staffing is an issue. When I was a waitress I would always quickly step in when a family was finished as soon as Mum (and it was always the mother) started clearing up. Eating out should be a break and treat for everyone. Staffing is a lot thinner on the ground these days though.
McDonald's and the like you are expected to clear you rubbish though.
At our local food court the staff do it and they have no rubbish bins anyway but they have plenty of staff that will even clear used plates etc while your eating.
Not sure about M&S as I am not in UK.

Yes, sadly sometimes people just don’t give a sh*t these days.

I agree that it's the staffs' job to clear tables but why not make things a bit easier for them? It's not difficult to scoop crumbs, bits of food off the table and put them on a plate. It's not difficult to not spread all the cutlery around the table rather than putting them on a plate.

Quicker and easier for staff to clear a table where the plates are at least together if not stacked, cutlery on a plate, table not covered in crumbs, bits of food, smear of sauce, drink spills etc. I assume most people would not get up from their table at home and leave it like that so why do it when out?

It’s scummy and lazy of parents not to clear up after kids have made a mess.

Yes absolutely - i have 3 kids including a set of twins - I always make an effort to clean up what I can and think it’s incredibly entitled and lazy of parents who don’t

(have to admit though it’s not the parents who are the main culprits …. Plenty of people who I see eating out in cafes seem to have a problem tidying up after themselves!)

I always clean up, but SO often the staff come over and tell me not to and that's it's their job. Maybe that happened in this case?
I personally think it's the right thing to do, but as someone who has previously been a waitress, I would never have expected it and never thought badly of anyone that didn't. It was my job after all.

I think if you're walking into a messy table that's technically the staffs fault for not clearing.

Agree! If my baby dropped something I picked it up there and then, I didn’t just let it accumulate.

My dog usually does a bit of cleaning. If some of the filthy people described in this thread have chucked food on the floor and swanned off, he hoovers it up.

I was in a restaurant recently where the table and floor was covered in food after a family of three had eaten. The mother picked the baby up and walked off whilst the father wheeled the pushchair all over the food on the floor. I honestly couldn't believe it.

I clean up after myself and would definitely have picked food up from the floor.

Yes I remember!
Yeah totally mortified - mortified that she got caught before she could get away with it! Totally skanky

Well even in a restaurant me and DH leave the table with at least the dishes together and cutlery on the dish/plate not just spread over the table. If there are breadcrumbs on the table I would scoop them up and put them on a plate.

Just good manners

Please stop with the nowadays. Is to work in a cafe in the 80s and people were bad then as well.

I don’t understand how so much mess is being made. I’ve taken all mine out to eat from being babies and aside from the odd knocked over drink or a few dropped bits of pasta or whatever there’s never been loads of mess to clear up.

What’s that got to do with the price of fish?
So it’s ok for scummy parents to leave their kids mess everywhere because people can take dogs into cafes??

The majority of dogs don’t spill drinks all over the tables and chairs and leave food debris everywhere.
I’d rather sit where there’s been a dog under the table than where there’s been a toddler.

Dogs are usually better behaved than many children I have seen in cafes/restaurants and will quietly sit under table waiting for a titbit or two

I have twins and I always, always cleaned up after them properly. I stack plates up for waiting staff too.

I can comment in what I like thanks! Incidentally, I did read the OP.

I had read the OP, thanks.

I will always (even without kids) do a quick sweep of crumbs etc off the table and onto a plate. Plates stacked or put together, anything big off the floor. I won't Scrabble around down there scraping up crumbs, as a broom or similar is better for that.

I always make sure I clean up. Honestly, we don't usually leave a mess and I'm a bit baffled HOW some families do but I'm paranoid about my favourite cafes not liking me coming with my toddler so I just leave the places spotless. I always have antibacterial wipes as well as wet wipes with me so usually the table is cleaner than when I found it 😂

I’m afraid it’s becoming more of a problem and I feel sorry for the poor staff who have to clean after them.
I wonder if their own homes are a similar mess?