No idea if I was unreasonable here

[naughtylist]

Long story short. I spent 2 hours in the car today with 3 week old baby. We got lost and could not stop. Baby was very hungry. We eventually found our destination and I was extremely stressed out and had only had 3 hours sleep. Plonked 2 year old in high chair and started feeding a very distressed Ds whilst my mum went to get us a drink. I just felt so relieved to be sitting down feeding him.

Within minutes, a woman came over and said quite forthrightly that she was sorry but she had just gone to the bar to order food for that table so we would have to move. She had two children with her aged around 4 and 6. I just looked at her and said 'can you just ask them to order your food to another table'?. She looked at me aghast, like she wanted to murder me, told her kids to sit at the other table and not move while she spoke to the bar staff. Then she kept glaring at me for the rest of the meal.

Was I wrong?

no she should have bagged it with her coat or left one if her kids on guard.

Empty table is up for grabs.

Um yeah. But I can understand your circumstances.

Wrong/right on both sides of this.

She probably wasn't comfortable leaving her kids sat at the table on their own, and you had no way of knowing it was 'her' table.
She had no way of knowing you'd had a horrible journey and were shattered.

As long as everyone who needed food/drink got it, just one to let go of.

I can't see that you did anything wrong.

No yanbu it's a table, she sat at another one can't see the problem.

An empty table is free to be had.

Hmm. Sounds like both of you could have been more polite, but probably stress on both sides, so just one of those things. Hope your journey home was quicker and easier, OP!

YANBU

An empty table is an open table. She should have left her coat or let her children sit there while she ordered if she meant to save it. I think it was rude of her to ask you to move when you were feeding a baby, another in a high chair, and there was a nearby empty table. You'd think she'd have some empathy having had a toddler and baby at once herself.

Good for you not being bullied into moving.

I think she was being unreasonable. It's a pain when you have to order food at the bar and haven't got anything to claim a table with but it's just kind of tough. Otherwise people could wander around claiming any table with that tactic. She should have seen you were all settled, realised that it was bad luck and just gone to an empty table.

Well, YANBU, but neither is she a mind-reader so as to understand your previous predicament.

She couldn't leave a 6 year old to sit at a table?

Was the pub the size of an aircraft hanger?

She shouldn't have expected you to move when you were feeding your baby. These things happen, you thought the table was empty, she should have left something to reserve it.

I don't think you were really. How were you to know? If I were her I would not have even mentioned it to you, even if I was p'ssed off.

You could have stopped to feed your baby...
She had no way of knowing why your needs were greater than hers.

Yanbu, as others have said, how were you to know? Probably under different circumstances you might have moved but you were feeding a baby. Maybe she was stressed too.

This happened to me and my mum, we'd bought our coffee and sat down. There was a small child wandering around, looking out of the window and not sitting anywhere, but suddenly an irate woman appeared and said 'my son is very upset as he was saving this table'. We apologised and moved, but it still makes me angry that I didn't say anything or explain.

She should have made it know. That table was preoccupied!

You could have moved

Both Abu!

You were being unreasonable not to stop earlier and feed the baby, but as far as the table goes, YANBU. She must have seen you were feeding a tiny baby, it isn't hard to move to another table!

She could have left coats and bags at the table if she didn't want to leave children. Yanbu

No yanbu, she should of left one of the kids (or both) or a coat on the table, so her mistake, she made a mountain out of a molehill. I spotted a table once at a Hungry Horse, by the time I had ordered (long queue) someone was sitting, I just went and told them I'd moved tables. It's really not a big deal and my fault because DS was tagging alone everywhere with me and wouldn't sit on his own.

I wouldn't leave my bag

Tricky as in her position if I'd turned round and saw you feeding the baby and there were plenty of other tables free I wouldn't have asked you to move anyway.

Silly being all precious about a table unless there was something special about it.

The sort of person who would do that would probably glare at people whether they moved or not so I think you were fine to stay where you were.

All you did was sit at an empty table. Unless there was a reserved sign on it that's fine. All she had to do was tell bar staff she'd changed seats...

YANBU. If there's an empty table you can sit at it.