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Original poster

Rude, entitled mother in Pret

123 replies

IloveJudgeJudy · 06/04/2019 18:01

DD's story; not mine.

She was in Pret A Manger this afternoon, minding her own business, eating lunch (bought from Pret) with her headphones on. A woman with a pushchair tapped her on her arm to get her attention. DD looked up and smiled at the woman, and the woman said "give me your table". DD said "no" and woman persisted with a few more "give me your table". When DD said "no" again the woman asked why she wouldn't and DD said "you didn't say please". The woman then told her she needs the table because she had a pushchair and DD said "I don't care, go upstairs". Woman gets angry saying "how dare you speak to me like this, move now". DD Stands her ground and tells her to go upstairs again. A Pret employee approaches the table and asks what the problem is. DD tells her this woman poked her arm and told her to move; not ask. Employee tells woman there are other seats upstairs but woman says she wants to sit at DD's table. DD says she's not moving and the woman says "I'm never coming here again" etc etc. Employee apologised to DD and older couple remarked on how rude she was.

I've never had an experience like this. I've read on here about situations like this before and I couldn't really believe people act like this, but now it's happened to someone I know. How rude!

OP posts:

TheDarkOverload · 06/04/2019 21:02

We were on a train recently. 3 of us at a table. Practically the only people in the carriage so the 4th seat had our coats and bags.

Got to a (normally quiet) station and people starting piling in so obviously we packed our stuff up straight away. People were sorting themselves out at the table next to us and standing in the aisle blocking everyone from moving, including my husband from standing up to put the stuff in the overhead shelves. He was doing that sort of stand/crouch thing holding our stuff so was obviously waiting to move.

A woman shouted accross the carriage to my husband sonething like "oi! move your stuff. People want to sit down". Husband very politely said "I'm just waiting for the room to" and pointed at the people still blocking the aisle. She then shouted "I don't care. People want to sit down". He, less politely said "I will, when I can". She then literally screamed "I said shift it!".

I'm ashamed I got a bit fishwife and screamed back "don't speak to him like that!". Her reply was "I had a ticket for the first class service before this so talk to the hand". I shouted some garbled thing about her being 12 that probably didn't make any sense (no swearing or name calling). If I was getting my fishwife on I should have something ckever about her not even having a ticket for this train.

Anyway, no need for it. If she didn't realise my husband was waiting to put the stuff in the overhead, she could have been a lot more polite about it. No need for the aggression or rudeness.

SapphireSeptember · 06/04/2019 21:15

I can believe it, I know I've told this story on MN before, but I shall tell it again. I was sitting at a big table in the library with my bag in front of me, 8 person table, I was taking up roughly 1/8 of the space. Old man comes along and tells me to remove my bag, and then starts trying to push it off the table. I refused this and when he started with the shoving I held onto my bag and I think I told him if he broke anything he was paying for it. This culminates with him saying all teenagers are selfish (I was 27!) and saying he didn't want to talk to me anymore. "Well you started it!"
Of course he then gets out a newspaper and takes up roughly the same amount of space as me. (Good thing he didn't see the woman who sat there after him, she took up half the table with her bits of paper, he's have had conniptions!) I was listening to music, writing in a big notebook and completely minding my own business, and I was really annoyed he's disturbed my flow, as well as just being really annoyed by the whole thing (though glad I hadn't backed down.)

alittlesnow · 06/04/2019 21:17

Totally believe you samphire and darkoverload.

This kind of thing definitely happens. I have seen it/witnessed it before. Including it happening to me some years ago.

Interested in this thread?

Then you might like threads about this subject:

General relationships

SapphireSeptember · 06/04/2019 21:17

*I like having my bag in front of me so I can keep an eye on it and told the old dude this, he wasn't having any of it, oh no. I was being selfish. If I was being selfish then I wonder what he was being? An arsehole?

VladmirsPoutine · 06/04/2019 21:17

Most likely ingrained by me as it's something I say

A testament to fine parenting. I was much the same even now in my 30s

SrSteveOskowski · 06/04/2019 21:22

Well done to your DD. I hate entitled buggy women. I was in Aldi recently when a woman with a buggy demanded to go to the front of the queue because "I have a child you know!". Man in front of me replied with "Well I have a hernia, but you don't see me skipping the queue!"
Everyone laughed and buggy mother slunk off quietly.

Groovee · 06/04/2019 21:37

@SrSteveOskowski love the hernia comment.

MadameAnchou · 06/04/2019 21:42

My choice was to stay and have an uncomfortable coffee or to move. I moved.

Or grow a thicker hide. 'Suit yourself, I give not a gram of fuck about bullying twats, anyhow', put on headphones and carry on.

HarrySnotter · 06/04/2019 21:50

If I could move upstairs and someone had a buggy with them, I think signposting them upstairs is actually pretty unhelpful....

Having a buggy doesn't give someone the automatic right to be rude.

MadameAnchou · 06/04/2019 21:52

That's no one's lookout but their own. Life's tough.

SrSteveOskowski · 06/04/2019 22:04

@Groovee, so did the rest of the queue

alittlesnow · 06/04/2019 22:50

@SrSteveOskwoski

Everyone laughed and buggy mother slunk off quietly.

InfiniteSheldon · 07/04/2019 06:23

Be interesting to hear the other side

Sirzy · 07/04/2019 06:36

It sounds as if the woman was rude but I do wish that when somewhere like this is over two floors and busy those who can go upstairs do because then that means those who can’t still have somewhere to go. Ds is A wheelchair user and it is frustrating when we can’t get a table somewhere but know it half empty upstairs.

Happynow001 · 07/04/2019 06:55

@TheInvestigator
I hope you enjoy that disability when you get it". I moved my bag off my lap and everyone saw my bump and some guy shouted "I bet you feel like a c..t now".
He looked embarrassed but didn't apologise and his son just sat there.
Wow! Over too many years commuting I've seen and heard some bad behaviours but this absolutely takes the biscuit. This man sounds like a bully and I hope the universe teaches him a lesson!

Sockwomble · 07/04/2019 07:02

"Well done to your DD. I hate entitled buggy women. I was in Aldi recently when a woman with a buggy demanded to go to the front of the queue because "I have a child you know!". Man in front of me replied with "Well I have a hernia, but you don't see me skipping the queue!"
Everyone laughed and buggy mother slunk off quietly."

Do you hate buggy men and fathers too?

JenniferJareau · 07/04/2019 07:29

I can well believe this story. I had people like this try and intimidate me as a teen and in my early twenties. It's like they see us as an easy target or something.

YoThePussy · 07/04/2019 12:07

I am certainly not in my teens but a couple of weeks ago was in a cafe having been seated at a table for 4 but on my own. The manager shouted from the till would I move as if they got busy they would need that table. Fair enough but would have preferred a politer request. When I came to paying she tried to charge me for my original table where 4 people had arrived and by then eaten extensively. She was not very polite again when I mentioned it to her and muttered a lot under her breath. I won’t be going back there again.

scaryteacher · 07/04/2019 12:21

I was on a very crowded cross channel ferry with ds, dh and my DM. We were coming to the end of our meals and having coffee,tea etc. It's a grab whatever seat you can and then stay there for the duration of the crossing affair. One family came and stood with loaded trays around the table and just gave us the evil eye obviously willing us to move. Dh and DM had gone off to the loo, but you could see there were people using both sides of the table.

I just stuck my nose in my book and my tea and ignored them. They were put out we didn't move, and that they had to shift when dh and DM came back. They went and tried the same non speaking slightly intimidating act at two other tables, til eventually a young couple decided to move.

Had they asked, I might have moved, but DM couldn't stand for the journey, and I hate sitting on the floor, and the ferry was rammed.

iklboo · 07/04/2019 12:23

Do you hate buggy men and fathers too?

If they tried to pull that kind of crap, yes.

Original poster

IloveJudgeJudy · 07/04/2019 14:42

DD says thank you all for the supportive messages on this thread. As I mentioned before she has very much suffered in the past from being walked over. She was the youngest and/or the only person not in a couple/group so an easy target.

I'm sorry I'm on my phone so can't recall who talked about having a DC in a wheelchair. DD says no question she would have moved immediately, but I'm sure you wouldn't've been rude, in any case .

I asked her what her ideal scenario would've been. It was that she would've been tapped on the arm/shoulder and the person would've asked politely.

Btw for those saying about seeing this from the other side, the CF hadn't even bought their food yet!

OP posts:

GreigLaidlawsbarofsoap · 07/04/2019 15:30

Just to say OP well done to your DD and yes I can completely believe this, as have seen similar, and more than once. And yes they do seem to often select young women on their own as being the "easiest" target and rapidly change their tune if a partner/family appears on the scene. Bullies, plain and simple.

woodhill · 07/04/2019 16:38

Yes even more cheeky OP if no food had been bought.

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