To reserve the entire park benches?

[anyplate]

I took my children to the park today and packed up a picnic, it was a woodland area with apparatus and was a short drive away.
When we arrived we headed straight to the park and thought we’d eat our picnic but every single bench had a “polite notice”
bench is reserved for children’s birthday party
don’t be that person.

There was about five benches and no one around so I got a blanket out of the car and sat on it and we had our picnic.
We stayed at the park over an hour and in that time many cross looking people went to sit down and saw the note and didn’t but there was no children’s party in the hour or so we were there.
Were they not completely unreasonable reserving every single bench for an unknown amount of time so nobody else could use it just so they were free for when they wanted?
We could have sat there eaten our lunch and gone without it affecting any party.

Agreed.

Crud meant to add for the OP I would have sat on the bench and removed the sign if I wanted the bench.

I do prefer a blanket to spread out though so would have gone that route first unless I was feeling contrary 😁

When my kids were young I'd probably done the same and the wtf afterwards or if not blanket sat and hoped the party didn't turned up while there.

Took me ages to start moving clothes left to bag changing rooms to open lockers after swimming lessons even with signs around saying doing don't do that. When I did start doing it - as it got silly - I did get challenged found it easy to shrug and then point at signs saying don't do this.

Now during perimenopause I'd shrug and just sit and ignore - which DH would likely have done all along.

Unless the benches are reservable via the council (never seen that in the uk but you could reserve picnic shelters in the USA) then it’s very rude, i would have removed all the notes and used one of them for myself, the the party came along and no notes just act as if you had no idea. Plain wrong

That’s not on at all though. I’d have thrown the notices away.

Where I am you can reserve benches through the council (and pay) in some areas too but this obviously is not the case here. In the areas you can’t reserve the council has put signs people not to do what the OP describes. When people want to reserve non - reservable areas, they at least have some decency and have few adults doing decorating and just hanging out, not disappear.

Well, I hope they paid to reserve the benches……what a bloody cheek!

I’d have removed all the signs and let them suck it up.

Who would be so entitled to deprive countless families the chance to use a bench!

Same I would have removed them all ,you want something reserved do what everyone else dos and pay for it.

This!! If you want to have your birthday party in the park you get there early and sit on the benches. I did a similar party, reserved 2 benches and blankets for everyone else

It’s entirely possible that if no one was around that it could have been a prank and the note left as a social experiment to see if people behaved like sheeple and obeyed the note!

Reserving park benches, this is crazy!

Absolutely. My daughter was invited to a swimming party once. Parent paid for the swimming but decided not to book the catering package. She brought a gazebo and put it up on the grass outside and brought her own food, except that there was torrential rain and the whole thing was a wash out. But she made the kids do it anyway - they were already wet from the swimming and they all got absolutely drenched as the wind was blowing a gale, there were no walls on the gazebo, just a roof. Parents had assumed the party was all indoors and turned up to pick them up to find hysterical, soaked, cold children (they were 6 or 7 at the time). That was certainly a party no one ever forgot.

Wow, you are nice! I'm exactly THAT person, I would have sat on the bench and probably binned the note.

Its a bit like putting your towel on a sun lounger and buggering off for a few hours to finish your sleep/ have breakfast - complete CF**ery and should not be tolerated.

Reserving benches in a PUBLIC park??? What kind of cheeky f*ery is this??? Never heard 'owt so daft in my life. I'd have taken no bloody notice, and see who dares approach me!

Reserved? Hah! Cheeky bugger!

I'd have chucked every notice in the nearest bin. Cheeky fuckery at its finest.

‘What sign’? My reply if anyone questioned me about sitting on a public bench.

Sounds like a school holiday prank that the kids back in my youth excelled at.....

Of course unreasonable! I would have sat at a bench anyway and moved if anyone turned up

I would have ignored. Then when they turned up I might have moved

it’s incredibly rude

I would have removed all the signs, who do these people think they are? Had the entitled party then turned up I would have said 'What notices?, who gave you the authority to put notices on public benches?'

Why would you move from a bench you are perfectly entitled to sit on? People like this get away with their cheeky behaviour because other people let them!

Just another example of how ‘entitled’ some people are! Public bench, public use, they have no right to reserve 😳

I used to work in park, we would 100% have torn off the notices and binned them (in the office bin, so they couldn't fish them out and stick them back on), and told off anyone we saw doing this. Because yes, people would try to reserve areas by pegging out barrier tape etc. Next time, see if you can find any staff and they'll sort it, or tell you to sit down anyway.