To think I may have breached McDonald's table etiquette?

[QueenCuntyChops]

It's the holidays.

It's HEAVING in here.

I have five children with me.

We came upstairs laden with food on trays and hovered politely, and I noticed that one table was empty apart from kids coats and some colouring pens etc.

So I stood by it and did a general 'does anyone know who's sitting here?' all three surrounding tables shook their heads.

So, figuring the kids had obvs finished eating and were in the play area, I set the trays down. We stood by the table until a small child came up, so ever so politely (but quite loudly), 'have you finished? Can we sit here? Where's your grown up?'

At that point one of the women on e next table

The woman on the next table what???...I must know!

Urgh stupid phone.

One of the women who had already shook her head at knowing who was sitting there said, 'oh they're with me, they're coming back to have their ice creams in a minute'

So I said 'would it be okay if we sat down and they hovered with their my flurry?'

And she said no, they'll make a mess.

And at that point I'm afraid I just sat down, and we ate our food.

And she gave me daggers for the next ten minutes before they left.

But honestly. I'm sitting here now with the baby while the bigger ones play, and if someone needed the table to eat at we'd move.

Surely that's the way it works in this hell hole?

Aibu?

And if my brood wanted a mcflurry (not my flurry, I don't know what that is), they could perch elsewhere.

Arf at Mrs. Sorry for the suspense and subsequent anticlimax...

I'd never go to the hellhole have told her you asked several times if anyone knew who was sitting there and unfortunately she must have missed her chance, but the place is busy and you were there first.

If she'd been that keen for them to have a place to sit down she'd have noticed you when you first asked.

Oh dear, I think you would have started a riot had it been at my local Maccy Ds

lol at the anticlimax

No you were absolutely right - there was nobody actually there and you sat down with 5 kids.

Blow a straw wrapper in her direction.

And perfect a gallic shrug, even if youre not French.

There is no place for etiquette in McDonalds. There are so many 'systems' that you'll never find someone using the same system as anyone else in any McDonalds at any given moment. Do as you please. Everyone else does.

She was odd for not saying anything sooner about her children needing the seats you'd asked about though. Her silent system isn't one I've encountered before, quite the opposite usually.

If you've got food already, you should have priority over people milling about waiting or about to buy food. If there was room for you to sit, the other woman had no reason to glare.

Your McDonald's has a play area ?
I am a bit at that tbh.

I sort of did shrug.

And then sat down with my back to her.

Ds1 said she was giving me the evil eye until they left.

Meh.

Had her children only left the table to buy their ice cream then?

If so and they were coming straight back, I think you were rude.

If they were off playing and had been gone for a while, then you were perfectly reasonable.

Oh yes. It's hideous. Worse than the skankiest soft play because you always get a couple of little scrotes who eat in there and there's usually at least one gang of teenagers terrorising the little ones.

But they all love it, so here we are.

Good on you! :D

Her kids were in the play area. I don't think they did get their icecreams in the end, so I've saved them from obesity and listeria. My good deed of the day.

Ours was refurbished recently after being infested with cockroaches, might wander down and see if they have a play area.

at being saved from obesity and listeria, don't forget tooth decay.

YANBU, you sit at the table or expect it to go to someone else!

I was in Leicester Square McDonalds last week, there wasn't enough room to even stand up, let alone have a play area in it!

A play area in McDonalds! Whatever next?!

I get pissed off with table hovverrers (and parking space hovverers...) so yabu for that.

A play area in McDonalds, mind.

If we have to go to McDonalds and thank goodness it is rare that DS asks we do it the way DS prefers. Go to the drive-thru, buy food, then drive to a picturesque spot and eat in total peace and quiet. 'Tis the only way. And in any case, when we went to our local McDs the other day, there was not a parking space to behad for love nor money, so goodness knows what it was like inside. The Drive thru was empty!

YANBU

Not unreasonable at all. We gave up our table earlier this week to a MUm with what seemed to be 6 children with her (husband had done the food run) she looked tired and pissed off so we tidied up sharpish and told her we were off and could have our table. I don't think coats on a chair or table to baggsy your place is appropriate TBH and I don't do it.

YANBU

You were being brave though, if that had been our local McDonalds you'd almost certainly have been stabbed, spat on, punched or a had a mcflurry smooshed in your face.

Have you checked your hood?

Yanbu. I took ds1 and 2 Monday. I didn't eat, they had happy meals. There was no where to sit. There was a huge ring style seat with one boy about ten eating and a load of bags. I perched the boys on the end. He said "my sister is coming in a second" so I said "ok, but this is plenty big enough for four children to sit" (it could easily sit eight) and got the boys to sit and eat.

Then a table next to us cleared so we moved. But said sister never ever came back and this boy just sat there for the twenty minutes we spent there, even when he'd finished. Which makes me think he had been plonked there by a mum fed up of dragging him round the shops.

Couldn't she just have budged up to let her kids eat their non-existent McFlurry?