Parents of a four-year-old have sparked a debate on social media after reserving three tables at a public park for their child’s birthday party.
A post shared on Reddit's sub-forum known as 'Mildly Infuriating' is catching a lot of people's attention for its "passive-aggressive" note.
An individual - who goes by the handle @reddit/AV16mm - shared a picture of a sticky note left on a bench in a public park. The message read: "Reserved for a birthday party. Please respect the space we’ve set aside & do not use our tables.
"This is a 4-year-old’s party. Don’t be the one to mess it up. Thank you," they concluded.
The furious park-goer that posted the picture aired their disgust in the caption, writing: "Busy public park on a hot Saturday/Labor Day weekend. Seems super entitled. Park has been open for four hours and no sign of them. All the other tables are full."
According to the author, the tables were empty for six hours after the park opened with no one showing up to claim them. They even showed alleged proof in another snapshot which confirmed that at least three were "reserved".
The user went on to claim that the party didn't begin until several hours later, with people walking in with loud portable speakers. They also added in an additional comment that the noise caught the park rangers' attention, and this led to them giving the parents and party members a "lengthy" talk.
The post went viral - receiving 65K upvotes and 4.7K comments - and left many commenters divided.
The majority of users did not side with the parents, with one person writing that "unless stated by officials with the official sign and paperwork," all public benches are first come "first served basis".
"Most reservations at parks are usually gazebo-style buildings with lots of tables in them. Other [than] that you have the right to throw that sign away," they explained.
Another user shared their disappointment at the parents, penning: "As a parent who has gotten up at 5am. and sat at one of these to keep it reserved, please just use the tables! How rude of them!"
A third pointed out that "public parks don't allow reservations," adding: "And when they do, they never issue them in the form of a piece of poster board with passive-aggressive notes on them. All they're doing is trying to keep someone else's 4-year-old off the tables they'd like to use for their 4-year-old. Tear that s*** up."
A fourth remarked that the parents are "narcissistic self-entitlement," for the note, claiming that they are "making you feel bad by writing that".
Meanwhile, some users somewhat sympathized with the parents as one commenter said: "It’s a child’s birthday party. That child won’t have that birthday party again. Perhaps if you do them a solid, in the future they might pay it forward. Or the parents might.
"Perhaps just for that one day, that one special day, you could do a decent thing for a child and their family and friends and let them have the table," they continued. "Is it an inconvenience? Sure. But is it a nice thing to do for someone who wants to celebrate their birthday? Absolutely."
A second user added: "I’m empathetic to them wanting to make their child’s birthday special at the cost of others. I guess it boils down to how much you want the table. Do you deny a child his birthday at the park and enjoy yourself or go somewhere else and hope they have a great birthday party."
Do you guys think the parents were wrong for reserving the benches at a public party? Share your thoughts!
