To have moved this woman's handbag?

[Sacredhandbag]

Today I was at a soft play which was part of a bigger local attraction. My DC went off to play and I looked for somewhere to sit. There were several 4 seater and 6 seater tables and some single seats all around the edges. All the tables were occupied and most of the seats around the edges were too, some with coats on. One four seater table was empty except for a handbag right in the middle of it. I squeezed into an available empty single seat with my DC's coats and bags.
20 minutes went by and noone had been to claim the handbag and empty table. I needed to order some lunch for my DC and to have somewhere to sit and eat it so I picked up the handbag, moved it to my single seat which was right near the table, and claimed the table, ordering lunch on the app.
By this point I honestly thought that the handbag might have been left by mistake so I thought I'd keep an eye on it and hand it in to the staff on my way out if noone came back to claim it.
A full 45 minutes went by (so over an hour in total since I first arrived) and as my 2 DC and I were sat there eating lunch, a woman with three kids came back.
She looked confused for a second, then saw the handbag, snatched it up, rounded on me and said "That was OUR table, we were SITTING there??" waving the handbag at me.
I explained that noone seemed to be using the table, it was busy and there weren't many places to sit and that I wasn't actually sure if the handbag was there on purpose or not or if it had been lost.

She got very angry, bordering on aggressive and said that they were already sitting there, she had just taken her DD to such-and-such a place, which is on the other side of the park, there was a queue there so it took ages and she'd already ordered lunch to that table so we needed to move, and that I had no right to touch her handbag
There might have been more argument but a family leaving came over and said they could have their table so she matched off there instead but kept making loads of passive aggressive comments for the next 15 minutes until we moved on.

WIBU to move the bag and claim the table?

BTW this has nothing to do with my username, pure coincidence! 😅

Yanbu but I wouldn't have dared do that! Well done

I would not have moved someone else’s handbag, and if they had left it there for that length of time, I would have notified staff.

Of course you know you're not unreasonable and no one with any sense would think you were wrong to move the bag. She left it unattended for over an hour stupid women was lucky it had just been moved and not stolen!

You did nothing wrong. She's an idiot to leave her bag and even expected it to still be there when she returned.

I would have denied all knowledge and said the bag wasn't on the table when you arrived.

She was very lucky some random didn't walk off with it. Stupid woman

I’d have long since handed it into staff as abandoned.

And did the lunch she had “ordered” to that table ever turn up?

its OK@Sacredhandbag , I won’t hold my breath! I think I know the answer.

Over an hour, I would’ve handed it in to staff to be honest, that’s ridiculous and she’s massively out of order.

It actually did! It turned up and I told the staff they had moved to table number x, and she used that opportunity to make one of her comments "yeah we were chucked off that table" or something along those lines.

Not unreasonable but I would have lied and say that it was on the chair when you got there or a member of staff moved it.

I would have told staff there was unattended baggage and watched them call the bomb squad in

Yes to this.

I don't think you were in the wrong here, OP.

Bagsing tables like this woman thought she was doing is really antisocial.

I am surprised!

It was kind of you to tell them where she was sitting, some people I would have said we had been sitting at the table for an hour and hadn’t ordered the food………

Their new table was closed enough to mine to hear everything and I didn't want a scene. I don't get loads of nice days out with the kids.

YANBU

It makes a refreshing change to hear of a Mumsnetter who actually took positive action, instead of coming here to ask if they're BU and at the same time saying they moved because they 'don't like confrontation'.

i bet they save sun beds on holidays too… put towels on and go off for the day 🙄… i think if u leave things unattended for that length of time u r inviting thieves 🤷‍♀️🙈

Who even leaves their handbag unattended???!

Terrorists

Claiming a table that you haven't even been at for 45 minutes is insane. She needs to stop leaving her bag unaccompanied. Surely she knows that.

I just hand bag into staff saying someone left it behind and when they come along to the table and ask where it is, feign ignorance saying I have mo idea itnwasnt here when I got here but try asking staff as they might have it

See it, say it, sorted.

What a lunatic!! You can’t bagsy seats in a busy soft play. Same rules as towels on holiday. You snooze you lose.

Id have just responded to her with dinosaur noises TBH just for shits and giggles

What idiot leaves their bag on a table and the clears off for almost an hour ?

"I bagsied this table."😅 👜