Separate tables for children at airport pub?

[sandrapinchedmysandwich]

Dh and I flew yesterday. We decided to have a pint at the airport Spoons but it was heaving and there were no seats available. Lots of people were walking around trying to find seats after ordering at the bar.

We came across a family where the adults were seated at one large table. 3 adults on a table for probably 6 to 8 people. Immediately behind them were 3 dc at 3 tables pushed together. Each table would ordinarily seat 2 people but each dc had their own little table and were engrossed in their screens so generally well behaved and quiet.

The selfishness was astounding. The adults could see how busy it was and could easily have accommodated the dc's at their table or at least made them budge up to free one more table but they sat there making ( in my opinion) quite aggressive prolonged eye contact at anyone who dared to look their way.

I know Ianbu but ffs. Is this how things are now? I have seen this sort of behaviour time and time again over recent months and have just had enough of most people these days. I am menopausal so my give a shitometer might be too heightened but I swear people are so much more selfish than they used to be years ago.

Can we sit here? Oh thank you. Don't leave room for an answer. A chair is a chair.

Yea I would've sat with the kids and involved myself in their conversation until they moved 🤣

Honestly, they just looked so aggressive. Dh looks ' hard' but is actually soft as shit. He would almost certainly have been the target for any aggressiveness. In the end we found a small table at the other side of the bar to avoid any unpleasantness. But this is undoubtedly how they probably get away with this sort of behaviour

Why didn’t you approach the staff??

If you're DH looks hard but isn't, why not assume they look aggressive but aren't?

To be honest we didnt think of that. But they were all rushed off their feet so not sure if they would have done much

So your DH ‘looks hard’ but is soft but you think these people were the real deal because of ‘aggressive eye contact’? That just sounds a bit daft.

Im sure anyone really desperate for a table could have asked for one but they were selfish.

Because my dh does not aggressively stare people out. He just looks like a certain stereotype which does not reflect who he is at all.

So 6 people taking up seating that could have taken 12. So 2 spaces per person?

Would you and DH have bypassed a table for 4 on the basis that it's unreasonable to take up 2 spaces per person? Or would you be happy to occupy a table bigger than needed, just as these people are?

(I actually don't understand why you just didn't sit at the end of the parents big table if there was space?)

Have you been on the receiving end of people staring you down? It is quite intimidating. Their body language was definitely confrontational. I have regular mva training as part of my job and if they were a patient I would be on my guard certainly.

Because they could have seated their dc with them thus freeing up 3 more tables. Why seat their dc separately at all in such a busy environment?

You sound very judgemental. But surely they weren’t staring you down because they didn’t target your DH. You found an empty table anyway, and nobody picked on your big DH so no big deal really

Well they didn’t need to because they sat at an empty table instead…

I’d have smiled sweetly and sat down…. But not if it was Spoons. I have posted this week on my dislike of airport Spoons (and some of their clientele!)

Why were they 'staring you down'?

What possible reason would there be?

They were staring staring everyone down who looked their way. We were not singled out. This is probably why the tables remained under occupied for so long. I am aware this was only a snap shot but there were lots of us milling around and they were staring down everyone in those few minutes who dared look in their direction

Judgemental how? I haven't named any particular characteristic. Just their body language

Fuck me, they were probably wondering why you and your DH were doing so much staring at them 😂

Did you really stand there watching them staring at everyone else in the bar?

You watched them briefly and decided they were very aggressive, intimidating, confrontational, had prolonged aggressive eye contact, would target your DH, were astoundingly selfish… all within a few mins where they just looked at people and you don’t think you’ve judged them?

But they picked free (at the time) tables that worked well for their family. I frequently see couples taking up tables for 4, I don't really think this is any different, or a big deal, especially if they're aware their children will squabble and disturb people if sat too close to each other. We also don't know whether half their party was in the loo or checking out the duty free etc.

‘Ok if we share’

beaming pleasant smile…

Ok. Well you have obviously decided how unreasonable we were. If you had been on the receiving end, you may have felt differently. Also for the record, this pub is always busy. I have been at different times of day and this is always how it is. I doubt very much that there would ever be enough space to sit like this without depriving others of a seat

I definitely do this on trains with the bag hoggers 😊

Also my dh isnt ' big '. So this is much more judgemental than anything I have said

Don’t be silly, you’ve said he looks hard and looks a certain stereotype… so you think he looks like a big hard man, ‘big hard men’ stereotype don’t have to be physically big. That’s a joke after the judgement you’ve made of the people you are describing.