'AITA for yelling at a kid for crawling under my table at a restaurant? I was called mean.'
"AITA for yelling at a kid for crawling under my table at a restaurant?"
My friend Jack and I after a long stressful week like to go to the local pizza place. It's not fine dining by any stretch of the imagination but there are booths and tables of people sitting down.
I see a large table near us of like 10 people a few couples and bunch of small kids between like 4 and 8, and the kids are running around the restaurant being loud while the adults are drinking wine and eating their pizza.
I ignore the commotion for like 20 minutes when suddenly, I feel like a hand on my leg and one of the little kids is crawling under the table Jack and I were eating at. I wasn't thinking and snapped at the kid, and said 'Get away from our table!' and the kid ran away and burst into tears.
One of the parents at the other table came over and started tearing into me about 'how cranky and mean I was and how dare I yell at her kid, who was just playing' meanwhile her and the other middle aged forty something parents are letting their kids run amok and be loud and obnoxious while my friend and I are trying to enjoy a night out.
I ripped her a new one and said 'How entitled do you need to be to think it's ok to let your kids just crawl under other people's tables?' She called me an a**hole and walked away in a huff.
Here are the top comments from readers:
NTA. Her exhaustion / boundaries / parental philosophy create no obligations for you. Your personal space was invaded, you reacted to repair that.
Agreed, NTA. Her inability to control her own kids does not mean you have to parent for her in her place. If the kid was just walking up to OP and trying to talk, yelling wouldn't be necessary, but this kid crossed boundaries that should have been learned multiple years ago.
NTA. You are not a jungle gym, and your table is not a play place.
Look at my username, now, I am going to say you are NTA. People should not let their kids be crawling around on the floor under their OWN table, nonetheless someone else’s!!!
NTA. People who don't scold their kids shouldn't be surprised when their kids get scolded by strangers, especially if they are just letting their kids go around and invade people's personal space. you didn't do anything wrong and the mom and all the rest of those parents are all major AHs.
NTA. Someone's gotta teach the kid they can't do whatever the fuck they want, and it apparently won't be their parents. Invading a stranger's personal space and touching them is a big enough deal to warrant being told off immediately and harshly.
On behalf of all restaurant workers everywhere, thank you for yelling at the mom. (It’s been years since I worked in a restaurant, but the rage from watching people let their kids run around unsupervised never really goes away.) NTA.