“Don’t Be The One To Mess It Up”: Entitled Note On Public Park Benches Asks People To Not Sit There Because Of A Kid’s Birthday
An image of a note left in a busy public park has been going viral on the internet after someone posted it on the Mildly Infuriating subreddit three days ago. The caption indicated that the note was left in a “busy public park on a hot Saturday/Labor Day weekend.”
The author added: “Seems super entitled. Park has been open for 4 hours and no sign of them. All the other tables are full.” Turns out the note was left by the parents of a four-year-old who ‘reserved’ three tables for their child’s birthday party.
Understandably, the note caused quite a stir on social media, prompting people to debate on entitled behavior and arrogance in busy public spaces. Scroll down and share what you think of this situation in the comments below!
Parents of a four-year-old left a note in a busy public park to reserve the tables for their child’s birthday, which sparked a heated discussion online
Image credits: Kampus Production (not the actual photo)
Image credits: AV16mm
Image credits: AV16mm
Image credits: AV16mm
Image credits: AV16mm
The person who shared the infamous note on Reddit added some background information
Image credits: AV16mm
Many people thought that reserving public park benches and not showing up is not acceptable
Others, however, did not shame the parents who wrote the note and saw no big deal
I'll bet you a dollar that the folks who don't see a problem with it are just the kind of people who would do such a thing.
Exactly! And if they went to a public park and every table was being held for one reason or another, they would be issed off.
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It's public space, you do not get to reserve it, and to use emotional manipulation, saying " you'll ruin the child's birthday" is just way over me. If it's not a place that you could literally rent, then whoever gets there, gets the table, end of story, they have just as much right to it as anyone else. Also, I bet there are many others who have their birthday and would want to have a party there, yet this Karen of a parent is the type who, if anybody else would do the same thing, would be the first to revolt. I feel sorry in advance for her child, who almost definitely will grow up n a world of double standards, as far as it can be seen from this parent.
Kids don't want to sit. They want to PARTY.
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I think I would have removed the signs and plastic table cloths, then claim “the tables had nothing on them when I arrived, soooooo….”
For those who are saying it's just a one-time thing. If lots of people thought that, it would be much more. You allow one person to reserve tables, then you'll walk into a park, and there will a note stuck to every table in the park!
And birthday parties, by definition, are not one-time things.
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Reminds me of that time I took a cruise. There are signs posted everywhere that reserving chairs is not allowed and yet people would go throw their towels or flip flops on the chairs and then leave and go to breakfast. There aren't enough chairs around the pool to accommodate everyone and it would just p**s me off. Or one person would be sitting by 6 or more empty chairs and if you tried to take one they would say they are taken, but we would stand there 20 or more mins and those people had not shown up yet. I'm sorry no, that's not how it works. Totally infuriating.
I don't ask...if there's not currently a person in it, it's fair game. Same deal on Southwest flights...IDGAF if you're "saving it", that's not how it works bro. There are plenty of seats together at the back of the plane.
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You can't reserve a public space! Most parks around where I live have gazebos that you can rent from the city and when you pay the fee they place a permit on it that is enforceable. I would've been all up in that.
6 hours?! Six whole hours? Come on now! It would be different if they were paid reservations but this is 1st come 1st serve. Its quite rude.
Entitled bullsh!t. You don't get to reserve a public bench, end of discussion.
I'd take the notice and the table cloths and put on another table as far away as possible. Maybe wrap it around a tree for extra confusion points.
Plenty of families have gatherings in the parks near me. They bring all their own chairs, blankets, even folding tables, find an open spot big enough and have their event. I have never seen someone try to claim a public bench or table with a stupid note. We do have parks here that have reservable areas (for a fee). When you break rules or generally accepted etiquette in public places you are inviting in-kind pettiness. I wouldn't run that risk at my kids event. Bad form.
My city (SF) has more child-free couples and families than most. Our neighborhood park has 8 tables. On any given day, each table can be used by 20 to 30 groups/people/couples. Dates, lunches, picnics, guncles with their nieces & nephews. Reserving tables is forbidden and doing so for half a day would be entitled to more than just another party or family. I’ve often seen attempts to reserve tables and passers by or table users just rip off the signs and plastic tableclothes. I look out onto the park so have often heard shouting matches between the rare entitled reserver and other park users using the tables first come first served. No one sides with those trying to hold the park spaces.
I held my kid's birthday party at a local park. We had set up at a gazebo and where there for about an hour? Then a woman approached and said that they had actually reserved the tables (which I thought you could do but I wasn't sure and never confirmed). So I apologized and gathered our things to a different table. That easy, she totally understood because there wasn't a sign put up (she expected one but I guess the people who work at the park, it's a big park, didn't put one up), but no hard feeling. People can work things out. Women can talk without becoming Karens lol (｡◕‿◕｡)
Can't believe how many entitled parents were in the comment above talking about how this is totally okay! Lol. "You're going to ruin a child's party" ... the kid doesn't fucken care. They're not even going to be sitting on them! They're going to be playing & having fun while the Karen's sit at the table & act like entitled assholes. You're only ruining Karen's day. As long as the kid has presents & cake. They're set.
I don't really care either way, but it does seem like a very strange thing to do... surely if you want to ensure a reservation you'd go to somewhere where that's a thing
Even if i didn't need a table that day, that's the one I'd be using. I went to a park at 7 am to hold 2 tables for my sons' birthday party when they turned 1 and 2. Just like the park in this article, no reservations. If you want a table you go early and hold it. I can picture the Karen hair on the author of this note. I would guess she also "knows someone at the parks department". Snort.
Who's to say that another child, say a four year old was having a birthday and his family called to reserve a space and were told not needed. Let's say the family gets there and those tables are the only available but NOOOOO bc THOSE tables are reserved. So who would be ruining what? First come first served.
Seems like they're teaching their offspring that if you demand your way, you'll get what you want. I'm sure this isn't the first, nor will it be the last time that these people will demand and expect others to give them their way. Good luck with that!
We've had a similar situation ... we used a public bench in a public park for a party. But we stayed there, when we were done we cleaned up and hurried up to make space for the next group to have a party who asked us to "reserve" the bench for them.
These benches are on public property and ARE public property themselves. Don't try to earmark public property for private use. That's just wrong on so many levels. If you have to have a private party, I am certain numerous kid friendly family dining establishments can accomodate you. Doesn't Chuck E. Cheese and Mcdonald's do these anymore? This sort of insanity comes from the same bunch who tried to cordon off public beaches for their private use. That didn't fly either.
I would ignore the signs but let the people have the benches and tables when they arrived if asked nicely. After all, a day at a public park is a special day for everyone. It's doubtful that a four year old would pay attention to such matters. Teaching young children to be considerate and learn to share is very important.
Having been a parent who paid to reserve public space, it had official signs and staff waiting for us, they provide the entertainment, they started the show believing the people that walked in and sat down in the space, a roped off area, were here for the party that was booked and were just really early, we also arrived early and thought they had booked back to back parties, what a mess! The one thing people don't respect is signs! People who we informed that there was an issue with capacity became rude and aggressive with the staff, who were gently explaining the situation to them.
The problem is LOTS of people what to use public parks for kids birthdays. Go to any nice public park on the weekend and there's usually several kids parties going on, and any one table might be used for two or even three parties over a whole day. The people who 'booked' this table didn't turn up until 6 hours after the park opened (no, they didn't forget to take down the note), which means there was 6 hours of time that table could have been used by someone else---maybe for another 4 year old's party.
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I'll bet you a dollar that the folks who don't see a problem with it are just the kind of people who would do such a thing.
Exactly! And if they went to a public park and every table was being held for one reason or another, they would be issed off.
Load More Replies... It's public space, you do not get to reserve it, and to use emotional manipulation, saying " you'll ruin the child's birthday" is just way over me. If it's not a place that you could literally rent, then whoever gets there, gets the table, end of story, they have just as much right to it as anyone else. Also, I bet there are many others who have their birthday and would want to have a party there, yet this Karen of a parent is the type who, if anybody else would do the same thing, would be the first to revolt. I feel sorry in advance for her child, who almost definitely will grow up n a world of double standards, as far as it can be seen from this parent.
Kids don't want to sit. They want to PARTY.
Load More Replies... I think I would have removed the signs and plastic table cloths, then claim “the tables had nothing on them when I arrived, soooooo….”
For those who are saying it's just a one-time thing. If lots of people thought that, it would be much more. You allow one person to reserve tables, then you'll walk into a park, and there will a note stuck to every table in the park!
And birthday parties, by definition, are not one-time things.
Load More Replies... Reminds me of that time I took a cruise. There are signs posted everywhere that reserving chairs is not allowed and yet people would go throw their towels or flip flops on the chairs and then leave and go to breakfast. There aren't enough chairs around the pool to accommodate everyone and it would just p**s me off. Or one person would be sitting by 6 or more empty chairs and if you tried to take one they would say they are taken, but we would stand there 20 or more mins and those people had not shown up yet. I'm sorry no, that's not how it works. Totally infuriating.
I don't ask...if there's not currently a person in it, it's fair game. Same deal on Southwest flights...IDGAF if you're "saving it", that's not how it works bro. There are plenty of seats together at the back of the plane.
Load More Replies... You can't reserve a public space! Most parks around where I live have gazebos that you can rent from the city and when you pay the fee they place a permit on it that is enforceable. I would've been all up in that.
6 hours?! Six whole hours? Come on now! It would be different if they were paid reservations but this is 1st come 1st serve. Its quite rude.
Entitled bullsh!t. You don't get to reserve a public bench, end of discussion.
I'd take the notice and the table cloths and put on another table as far away as possible. Maybe wrap it around a tree for extra confusion points.
Plenty of families have gatherings in the parks near me. They bring all their own chairs, blankets, even folding tables, find an open spot big enough and have their event. I have never seen someone try to claim a public bench or table with a stupid note. We do have parks here that have reservable areas (for a fee). When you break rules or generally accepted etiquette in public places you are inviting in-kind pettiness. I wouldn't run that risk at my kids event. Bad form.
My city (SF) has more child-free couples and families than most. Our neighborhood park has 8 tables. On any given day, each table can be used by 20 to 30 groups/people/couples. Dates, lunches, picnics, guncles with their nieces & nephews. Reserving tables is forbidden and doing so for half a day would be entitled to more than just another party or family. I’ve often seen attempts to reserve tables and passers by or table users just rip off the signs and plastic tableclothes. I look out onto the park so have often heard shouting matches between the rare entitled reserver and other park users using the tables first come first served. No one sides with those trying to hold the park spaces.
I held my kid's birthday party at a local park. We had set up at a gazebo and where there for about an hour? Then a woman approached and said that they had actually reserved the tables (which I thought you could do but I wasn't sure and never confirmed). So I apologized and gathered our things to a different table. That easy, she totally understood because there wasn't a sign put up (she expected one but I guess the people who work at the park, it's a big park, didn't put one up), but no hard feeling. People can work things out. Women can talk without becoming Karens lol (｡◕‿◕｡)
Can't believe how many entitled parents were in the comment above talking about how this is totally okay! Lol. "You're going to ruin a child's party" ... the kid doesn't fucken care. They're not even going to be sitting on them! They're going to be playing & having fun while the Karen's sit at the table & act like entitled assholes. You're only ruining Karen's day. As long as the kid has presents & cake. They're set.
I don't really care either way, but it does seem like a very strange thing to do... surely if you want to ensure a reservation you'd go to somewhere where that's a thing
Even if i didn't need a table that day, that's the one I'd be using. I went to a park at 7 am to hold 2 tables for my sons' birthday party when they turned 1 and 2. Just like the park in this article, no reservations. If you want a table you go early and hold it. I can picture the Karen hair on the author of this note. I would guess she also "knows someone at the parks department". Snort.
Who's to say that another child, say a four year old was having a birthday and his family called to reserve a space and were told not needed. Let's say the family gets there and those tables are the only available but NOOOOO bc THOSE tables are reserved. So who would be ruining what? First come first served.
Seems like they're teaching their offspring that if you demand your way, you'll get what you want. I'm sure this isn't the first, nor will it be the last time that these people will demand and expect others to give them their way. Good luck with that!
We've had a similar situation ... we used a public bench in a public park for a party. But we stayed there, when we were done we cleaned up and hurried up to make space for the next group to have a party who asked us to "reserve" the bench for them.
These benches are on public property and ARE public property themselves. Don't try to earmark public property for private use. That's just wrong on so many levels. If you have to have a private party, I am certain numerous kid friendly family dining establishments can accomodate you. Doesn't Chuck E. Cheese and Mcdonald's do these anymore? This sort of insanity comes from the same bunch who tried to cordon off public beaches for their private use. That didn't fly either.
I would ignore the signs but let the people have the benches and tables when they arrived if asked nicely. After all, a day at a public park is a special day for everyone. It's doubtful that a four year old would pay attention to such matters. Teaching young children to be considerate and learn to share is very important.
Having been a parent who paid to reserve public space, it had official signs and staff waiting for us, they provide the entertainment, they started the show believing the people that walked in and sat down in the space, a roped off area, were here for the party that was booked and were just really early, we also arrived early and thought they had booked back to back parties, what a mess! The one thing people don't respect is signs! People who we informed that there was an issue with capacity became rude and aggressive with the staff, who were gently explaining the situation to them.
The problem is LOTS of people what to use public parks for kids birthdays. Go to any nice public park on the weekend and there's usually several kids parties going on, and any one table might be used for two or even three parties over a whole day. The people who 'booked' this table didn't turn up until 6 hours after the park opened (no, they didn't forget to take down the note), which means there was 6 hours of time that table could have been used by someone else---maybe for another 4 year old's party.
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