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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

Asked to move out of the way in the zoo

232 replies

Auxiliary016 · 05/08/2021 14:45

Visited Chester Zoo today with my partner. All good - had a lovely time and admired the animals and quality of the enclosures (much more space than many I've visited before!).

I was really looking forward to seeing the Jaguars, and fabulously enough, one sat right near where I was walking, so I stopped just in front of the enclosure to admire it.

I was probably there for about 5 seconds when everyone started to crowd round, and suddenly this woman came out of the blue and said directly to me "Excuse me, coming through - I've got kids!", heavily implying me to move out of the way. I was shocked and so just moved straight away, but actually on hindsight I'm quite upset. Sad I don't have kids, but I have as much right to stand at the front as anyone else, surely? I paid for my ticket and I was only there for a few seconds. If people wait their turn, there is plenty of opportunity for everyone to get a good view.

AIBU to feel annoyed at this, and to have the right to stand at the bloody front for a few seconds if I want to?

OP posts:
RedHelenB · 05/08/2021 15:03

Yabu because you didn't say in a minute at the time.

AlmostSummer21 · 05/08/2021 15:06

She was rude
You were wet
Posting about it is ridiculous

If this is such a big deal to you hours later, your life must be pretty sweet-maybe focus on that.

thecognoscenti · 05/08/2021 15:06

OP she is clearly a total dickhead who thinks the world revolves around her kids. It doesn't. I'm jealous you saw the lovely Jaguars!

HPLikecraft · 05/08/2021 15:07

So entitled! Cheeky mare. You need to stand up to these people!

I was at a castle in France once when a man leading a group of teen students wanted to be where I was. He gestured me theatrically out of the way with a roll of his eyes, presumably to make the students laugh, as well as imply I was a dithering nuisance. I was looking at a display, and had paid admission, same as them. I stayed put, so he whacked me with his brochure!
I swore at him and swung my bag at him. He left me alone after that!

definitelysurethatimnotsure · 05/08/2021 15:07

@AlmostSummer21

She was rude You were wet Posting about it is ridiculous

If this is such a big deal to you hours later, your life must be pretty sweet-maybe focus on that.

Sometimes it takes a while to process something and then it hits you minutes or even hours later as you replay something in your mind

OP is allowed to post to vent about it !!

HPLikecraft · 05/08/2021 15:08

Also... I love jaguars!

LubaLuca · 05/08/2021 15:08

I'm another regular at Chester Zoo, and I always usher little children (not my own which makes it seem less awful in my mind, and only into the space I was standing in) through to see the exciting things. I would definitely be less inclined to step back if a bossy mum was giving out the orders to benefit her own tribe though.

Herja · 05/08/2021 15:10

I had a bloke once who asked me to swap booked seats in a theatre, moving me to a different area from my own (then 4 and 6 yr old) DC and out of the front row once. His argument was that then his children could sit beside their friends as the two family groups had booked separately and weren't together.

Their kids could have all sat together by the adults in their own party shifting about or one swapping to the empty seat behind that he directed me to. I laughed and told him to piss off.

Some people are just massively entitled dickheads when it comes to their DC. Actually, no - just some people are massively entitled dickheads! You were in the right OP, shame you moved.

MB58 · 05/08/2021 15:14

She was rude. I wouldn't of moved for her Angry

tellmewhentheLangshiplandscoz · 05/08/2021 15:14

I this no it's all about how you are asked/not.

If it had been me and I'd seems some young kids approach politely standing behind me I would perhaps have moved a bit instinctively. However as a few other posters have said just by virtue of being kids they shouldn't trump everyone else's equal right to get to the front. Some people and their offspring bulldoze around a zoo like it's a tick list.

By the sounds of this lady I think I would have been pretty stubborn and maybe moved an inch. If that. Her and her brood can wait their turn Wink

Disfordarkchocolate · 05/08/2021 15:14

Don't ever visit the train museum at York. Train spotters will be far worse than this.

I think they were very rude. I'm all for tiny ones squeezing in a gap when they are too small to see over anyone but generally, they need to wait their turn.

Moonwatcher1234 · 05/08/2021 15:15

@LubaLuca

I'm another regular at Chester Zoo, and I always usher little children (not my own which makes it seem less awful in my mind, and only into the space I was standing in) through to see the exciting things. I would definitely be less inclined to step back if a bossy mum was giving out the orders to benefit her own tribe though.
Awww that’s kind of you. I would do the same for other kids as well. It takes a Village after all.
BeenAsFarAsMercyAndGrand · 05/08/2021 15:15

I don't have kids, but I'd have moved. I'm adult-sized, which means I can see over kid's heads. They can't see over my head.

Similarly, I'd expect a 7ft tall bloke to be near the back. It's just polite surely - that way everyone gets to see?

sunshinepunch · 05/08/2021 15:17

Maybe she meant 'I've been at the bloody zoo all day with this wild bunch of ungrateful rugrats and I'm going to lob them over the top of the enclosure so clear a path for my run-up" 😁

But yeah no, cheeky lady.

thelionqwueen · 05/08/2021 15:17

Been to Disney World in Florida, and sometimes you have to wait a long time to get a good spot (in the heat) for the parades or fireworks. Several times parents have literally pushed their quite big kids through the crowds and in FRONT of us just as it is about to start, and angrily sneered ’they are kids!!!’. One time we let them but then the mother even pushed in front of us because she wanted to be near her kids. I mean, well you should have waited an hour like we have then..or try and ask nicely. So entitled!

tellmewhentheLangshiplandscoz · 05/08/2021 15:18

Almost this is MN. We're on AIBU. So many threads here are exciting for many, boring for others. You equally could have scrolled on by instead of taking the time to tell OP off. I'm guessing your taking a comfort break from your super exciting life.

nellyburt · 05/08/2021 15:18

I can't imagine ever going to a zoo without kids. They are one of the places I am glad my kids have now grown out of. The parents there were always a nightmare.

If you go to a zoo in the summer holidays you are going to meet a lot of idiot parents. Next time just ignore them.

Waspsarearseholes · 05/08/2021 15:19

This is just another example of things going from being child-friendly to actively adult-unfriendly. Entitled people like this are the worst. What on earth message is she teaching her children? That they can just skip through life with everybody parting like the Red Sea to make way for them?!

Chibbles · 05/08/2021 15:20

@GreenFingersWouldBeHandy

Wow.

Just.

Wow.

Biscuit

Eh?

Turnitoffandon · 05/08/2021 15:20

She's going to pay for that in 10 years time when her kids are entitled brats and she has to make the decision to be their "best friend" rather than an effective parent. Play the long game, OP, and console yourself with that!

TheFairyCaravan · 05/08/2021 15:21

@NeverDropYourMooncup

Are you only three foot four tall?

If you are, then she is being unreasonable. If not, then step back 24 inches and let the children in front to see.

This is why some kids are so bloody entitled. They need to learn to that the world doesn’t revolve around them and they have to wait their turn.
SerendipitySunshine · 05/08/2021 15:22

How old were the kids? She sounds very rude!

Original poster
Auxiliary016 · 05/08/2021 15:23

I think some of you are missing my point a little bit. It's not that I wouldn't have moved - I would have naturally after just a few seconds - but I was already there and it all happened within ten seconds! If she'd have said "excuse me, do you mind if my two kids have a little look?" that would have been totally fine. However, she didn't even ask, she basically told me to move out of the way. I was already there and it was finished before it began!

Sorry for those of you that said you hadn't seen the jaguars - it was my first time and it was magnificent! I didn't realise they were so elusive!

Also, for those that are telling me off for getting upset hours later: It's not going to hugely affect my life, but it was annoying and took a bit of time to sink in. I genuinely wanted to know whether I was being unreasonable!

OP posts:
Notaroadrunner · 05/08/2021 15:25

You shouldn't have moved.

LindyLou2020 · 05/08/2021 15:25

There is another aspect to this which OP didn't mention......
I have been to the jaguar house/enclosure at Chester Zoo least 3 times in recent years, and spotted them ONCE!
They are notoriously reclusive and solitary, and experts at hiding in their vegetation, away from prying eyes.
So, if you manage to see one, you want to make the most of it and have a good look before they disappear again.
Nobody has the right to try and bully someone out of the way, no matter where you are.

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