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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

Cleaning child mess in McDonalds?

38 replies

mom20182018 · 08/07/2018 08:55

I was with my daughter today in McDonlads and another child spilled her drink. Mom and daughter age around 9 just moved to another table and made no attempt to clean up. I always ask for a towel, broom and a mop to clean any big mess my daughter makes and almost never told no. Am i wrong in doing this? Seems like people just refuse to take responsibility or am i just wrong in thinking that my child mess, my job to clean up?

OP posts:
Cheby · 08/07/2018 08:58

YANBU. At the very least they should have alerted staff to the spill.

We are still mid baby led weaning stage with DD2 so I usually bring a small mat to put under restaurant high chairs (in case floors are carpeted) and do a number of sweeps underneath through the meal. I always wipe down surfaces, high chairs and floors after she’s finished eating. It’s bloody rude to leave a mess for someone else to clean up.

BexleyRae · 08/07/2018 09:02

I always clean up after DD, I hate seeing other people walk off, leaving their mess behind. I hope me cleaning up sets DD a good example for when she's older

LotusInspired · 08/07/2018 09:05

My dd threw up in a restaurant, my brother and i cleaned the whole thing up with no help from the staff at all.

itscaaaaaminhome · 08/07/2018 09:06

What’s the point of this thread? Do you think everyone’s going to jump up and say yabu? Leave the place a shit tip? come on.

NorthernSpirit · 08/07/2018 09:14

Some people are just rude and think everyone else will run round after them and clean up.

happymummy12345 · 08/07/2018 09:17

Asking for a broom and mop is a bit much. I always put all rubbish in the bin and wipe the table with baby wipes, and put the high chair back.
There was a thread about this before

Imchangingmyname · 08/07/2018 09:23

I always try and clear up our mess wherever we are but in McDonald's they're amazing with cleanliness. They are there in a nano second if there is a spillage or mess, so usually nothing to clear up by the time we leave Grin

BlueBug45 · 08/07/2018 09:24

Dropped liquids can cause a slipping hazard if they are the floor, so it is a good idea to let the restaurant staff know asap.

MissHemsworth · 08/07/2018 09:24

I remember one of the 1st times we ate out with DC1 when he was big enough to sit in a high chair & have finger foods he made SUCH a mess. I started cleaning it up & DH looked shocked & told me to leave it as it was the restaurants job. I'll never forget that! I did of course clean up & always have done.

OP YADNBU!

formerbabe · 08/07/2018 09:26

My dc spilt their drink once in McDonalds...I started to clean it up but a very nice lady who worked there said I didn't have to and she did it for me...I was very grateful! I always make an attempt to clear up after my dc though in cafes and restaurants.

numbmum83 · 08/07/2018 09:29

I used to work in maccies doing the cleaning job and the state's some people leave the place in is shocking ! We got paid to clean up customers mess but sometimes it took the piss. I often wondered if kids were allowed to treat their own homes in the same way.

We appreciated if a customer would tell us about spillages so we could get them seen to straight away but we certainly wouldn't expect you to deal with food on the floor etc .

One Easter holidays I remember clearly ,it was wet and extremely busy in our store, a massive group came in , took up one whole side of the seating area , they had 4 highchairs for babies and then left without putting ANY of the rubbish in the bin.
There was food from the kids EVERYWHERE , rubbish on and under every table , spillages , then the floors were wet from the rain and other customers were trying to get to the tables to sit down at the same time as we were trying to clear it ...

I used to say being a cleaner in McDonald's is like shovelling snow whilst it's still snowing !

Scabetty · 08/07/2018 09:31

I wouldn’t ask for a broom but always clear the mess so the table is ready for the next person. I would have alerted staff to the spillage in this case.

amilosingitor · 08/07/2018 09:34

I probably wouldn't ask for a mop but would inform staff. I'm one that always picks up the rubbish and takes it to the bin (DP doesn't. This pisses me off) anyway yesterday I did it and the lady who worked there helped push the bin open as I had my hands full a bit and I heard her say "thank you so much.......nice people" which made me really quite sad to think so many people just leave their shit about as though they are above it!

hairycoo · 08/07/2018 09:39

i think yabu. its not something id personally do but i wouldnt judge anyone else doing it. thats why there are cleaners employed in mcdonalds so why would you expect someone else to do their job that they are getting paid for? As numbmum says We got paid to clean up customers mess. some people are more messy then others. its nice to clean up your own mess but not mandatory otherwise mcds wouldnt need to hire cleaners.

BlueJava · 08/07/2018 09:47

If we make a big mess (e.g. drinks spill) then I'd clean up or at least alert staff and ask for a cloth. Other than that for just normal eating I don't understand how people make so much mess even with small kids! I just make sure we put any left over food in the used wrapping and bin it.

Having said this my mid-teen DS managed to get a whole burger stuck in a car seat the other day!! It was hard to clean up for laughing for a while.

ThanksForAllTheFish · 08/07/2018 09:49

My brother is the type to just leave his mess on the table and walk away. He has the attitude it’s thier job to clean it so why should he bother Confused

I always clean up and tell staff about any drink spillages (not that we spill drinks very often). I have seen staff in McDonald’s replace people’s spilled drinks for them too if they have just got thier food and it’s fallen off the tray.

Spilled drinks are a slip hazard - I slipped and fell on a spilled drink in McDonald’s when I was heavily pregnant. I just didn’t see the wet floor for the massive bump. Lucky I landed fine (on my back) and the baby was ok but it gave me a real fright and not a single person nearby offered to help me up or asked if I was ok, they just stared and me and a few found it funny and started giggling. It took me a few attempts to roll onto my side to get back up.

Strongmummy · 08/07/2018 09:51

You know YANBU. Is this post just to feel superior to the women who moved table ?

Ginkypig · 08/07/2018 09:51

Are you joking hairycoo?

Ok you don't need to ask for a mop but at least tell staff that there's been a spill.

With such a high customer turnover even if every customer was clean and tidy mcd would still need cleaners. Don't think creating a midden is doing anyone a favour or keeping them in a job it's just making an already hard job harder.

MarthasGinYard · 08/07/2018 09:52

Entitled pair

Yanbu

PortiaCastis · 08/07/2018 09:54

Some people are just plain ignorant and selfish why on earth can't they clean their own mess up

Mummyoflittledragon · 08/07/2018 09:55

The woman was very rude to staff an£ other customers. Besides had she asked for some paper towels and assistance she would have been offered a new drink. This is a topic regularly brought up. Some people are pigs when it isn’t their home and they would often be the first to complain.

Snowysky20009 · 08/07/2018 10:01

I always askedfor cloths etc when the kids spilt something, like wise if we are in a pub and someone spills a drink, I'll go to the bar and ask for a cloth for the table and one for the floor. 80% of the time someone will come and do it, the other 20% I'm thanked for not leaving a mess.
I've always done it, have never thought not too, along with my friends and family. I'd feel really cheeky and uncomfortable leaving a mess.

Scabetty · 08/07/2018 10:01

Some people are simply mingers and some people are very important. I had a class of 8 yos tell me that the pencil shavings all over the floor was the ‘cleaners’ job, not theirs last week. I told them the cleanet wasn’t in right now so get on with it.

silkpyjamasallday · 08/07/2018 10:02

Doesn’t surprise me, I work in a pub and the mess some parents allow their children to make and then they just leave it is shocking, people change their babies on a table and leave the dirty nappies and wipes stuffed in pint glasses. The rest of the staff and I would appreciate parents letting us know if there is a spillage, but it rarely happens. One family were letting their 6 month old baby eat chips, baby proceeded to projectile vomit all over the table and they just moved to another, without saying a word, no apology. But then I don’t think it is confined to just children, a grown woman managed to puke and piss herself a few weeks ago and I had to clean that up, so gross. And then currently there are the men who deliberately smash 30 odd pint glasses when something happens they don’t like during a football game now it’s the World Cup. Yes, people are employed to clean, but that doesn’t mean you make no attempt to clear up after yourself at all. Disgusting behaviour

Undercoverbanana · 08/07/2018 10:06

YA all BU for eating in McDonalds.

(Just my opinion!)

But no. Of course you are not BU. People are scum. They are the same sort of people who think nothing of littering, leaving dogshit and never consider their environmental impact on anyone or anything.

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