Wibu about this "seat saving" incident in the Michelin starred restaurant that is...

[IHaveNoShameLeft]

McDonalds. (Apologies for the thread title!)

Have name changed incase I was being unreasonable, so here goes:

I went to McDonald's yesterday with dd aged 5. I NEVER go in there on a Saturday, but she's recently started school so decided to treat her with a quick lunch and day in town.

We took our order upstairs and found that it was chockablock. I walked further in and found one small empty stool seat for dd and she sat down. There was a woman waiting at the table without any food and she told me she was saving the seats for friends. I told her I was only putting dd down to eat. She was getting more and more aggravated by dd sitting there.

Suddenly she tapped me on my arm and told me seats were empty behind me. I wanted to leave dd there as I couldn't be arsed to move again, but seeing as this idiot was about to suffer a heart attack for us taking her friends space I picked up Dd and put her down on the empty seat.

I had just put her down and was about to sit down myself when a woman jumped out of nowhere and declared she was saving the seat for someone and that we couldn't sit there. I looked at her. No food in her hands. I replied loudly (so other woman heard me too) that you can't save seats for people when you have no food. There are others who have paid and have food to eat. She got angry and started shouting at me about why I hadn't moved other people. I looked at her and said loudly, "you can't save seats for people that aren't here. Show me any rules about seat saving and I'll move". I sat down and started eating. She stood and stared at me (trying to intimidate me) for about 3 mins, during which time no one had come up with her food. She then huffed loudly and walked off.

Now, normally I would have not even imagined doing something like this. But I feel I've grown up a lot and am becoming less and less caring about what people will think of me. I told DH, and he agrees with what I did. I had food to eat and the seats were empty. I had already been forced to move by another woman, and I wasn't going to start moving around the whole place with a child.

So wibu?

Well done oaty.
Where does this strange attitude of 'I'm not using it at the moment but I don't want anyone else to use it' arise from? Must be either an overblown sense of entitlement or a deep seated insecurity I reckon

Sounds like a Western. Did anyone start playing the mouth-organ?

They tried to, Frontpaw, but someone was saving all the mouth-organs for a stand-off that hadn't happened yet.

To really annoy sunlounger baggsiers you need to take the towels off, fold neatly then place on the floor - and move the loungers too. Then they stand there eyeballing everyone, so that they piss the whole hotel off.

YANBU

My DH regularly has a go at 'seat savers'. It's fair enough if it's young children or elderly as long as they let you sit if you have food and they haven't! We were at a zoo once and a member of staff came over and backed us up which was nice of him... He said the people on the table (lady with toddler) could stay on the table with us but must let us sit there too, and then, bless him, 5 mins later when her DH turned up he went and found him a chair so we could all sit! I don't mind 'table sharing' when it is busy!

My Nanna often 'saves a table' but she has bad hips and knees so would find queuing difficult. Again though if a restaurant was packed out she would certainly let other people with food sit down. The only time she hasn't was when my mum was literally just coming with the tray!

YANBU.

the Mumsnet effect on confidence is real, i said no to a woman in a shop trying to queue jump, while planning my AIBU thread in my head.

i kinda knew i wasn't at all unreasonable as she wanted to butt in because she was parked on double yellow lines

where do all these cheeky people get the idea that they're the most important in the world?

YANBU.

the Mumsnet effect on confidence is real, i said no to a woman in a shop trying to queue jump, while planning my AIBU thread in my head.

i kinda knew i wasn't at all unreasonable as she wanted to butt in because she was parked on double yellow lines

where do all these cheeky people get the idea that they're the most important in the world?

jaggy you've just bagged two places on this thread when you only needed one. You are taking this assertiveness too far now and becoming as bad as these seat saver types !

sudaname I think you are onto something. Will we get a government grant do you think? Enterprising.

I told my DH about this thread, and then today we were out with the dc and went for something to eat

I 'seat saved' because I was on my crutches instead of in my wheelchair and there was absolutely no way I could stand any longer or queue, and my DH kept hovering round me protectively in case anyone was horrible to me about it

I think he was expecting a gang of marauding mumsneters to swoop in and tell me I was being very unreasonable

I have thought of another scenario. What about the places that give you a number on a stick when you have ordered, TO PLACE ON YOUR TABLE. If you have no table by the time your order appears what happens then?

Great, no try moving people's towels off the sun lounger when on holiday, it's hugely satisfying

What about soft play? I go on my own with ds and get up every now and then to check on him.

Should I not be surprised in if someone turfs our coats and shoes away and takes my table because I dared get up or go for a pee?

that's not seat saving before being served though, you're using a table and probably everyone else there is hopping up and down too! :)

I sometimes go and grab a table in a busy restaurant while someone else queues and gets the food. If I was called on it though by an annoyed customer I would just apologise and move.
I agree with another poster. There should not be one rule for people with children and another for everyone else. That kind of attitude gets on my wick.

Would someone be so kind then as to put together a comprehensive list of rules and circulate them asap.

K? Thx!

MrsK, you don't need written rules, just apply common sense. No?

Jusfloating that was me. 'Hand that rocks the cradle' mentality l call it. l hate it, l've brought my kids up thank you very much, looked after them, putting my needs second , so l'm buggered if l'm going to do same for other peoples.

But what's common sense to one is selfish, entitled and out of order to another. Isn't that what this thread has shown?

The problem with young children and saving seats is that we often can't leave the child saving a seat while we queue, so we have to find a seat with the child and the food!

It really annoys me all those grown ups saving seats for ages, even though they have arrived long after us.

I'd have done the same as the OP and probably have told her to call the police.

On ownership issues, I once got someone very annoyed because he had to remove his mcD from the bus seat so that I didn't have to sit under very strong sunlight. It was Summer.

I hadn't realised that his food had paid a ticket as well. Silly me. :o

What's common sense is that if you see a seat and you have food you sit down and eat. If you spot a seat before you're ready to eat you can sit in in it and wait but you have to share space or move if asked by someone who needs it immediately. Works in mcDonalds or the bus with infirm people or those with children. Fail to see how people can't understand a simple and courteous system or object to it.

OP YANBU at all.

Only selfish entitled arseholes 'save' seats while other people, with food in hand, have nowhere to sit.

YWNBU and I am gad to see that lots agree.

Normally there are so many people on here whinging about how saving seats is FINE.