In an ultimate show of passive-aggressiveness, the parents of a four-year-old have been heavily criticised after reserving three tables at a public park for their child’s birthday party.
The incident took place over the weekend, where many families would have been celebrating the upcoming Labor Day in parks and open spaces.
Three tables were draped with cloths in preparation for the party and, perhaps unsurprisingly, the monopoly of public benches did not go down well.
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A passer-by took a picture of the note and the empty tables on Reddit, sparking a heated debate.
The park-goer said: “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.”
A snap of the note showed that the organised parents asked other visitors not to 'mess up' their day.
It read: “Reserved for a birthday party. Please respect the space we've set aside and do not use our tables.
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“This is for a four-year-old's party, don't be the one to mess it up, thank you.”
The author explained that the tables had been unoccupied for six hours before a very rowdy party came with their portable speaker.
“The rangers had to come and have a very long chat with them, after that they settled down,” the author added.
In response to the Reddit post highlighting the incident, one somewhat sympathised with the family and said: “Several people could have used the chairs and left by the time they even showed up. Do you think this is entitlement or an extreme lack of awareness? I guess both types of people probably do this."
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Another said: “I understand them wanting to make sure they have seats for a party they want to throw in a public park, but preventing everyone from using them all day when they're not even there yet wasn't a great choice."
Another user added a few proposed amendments to the note to give it a softer stance compared to the original version: “We're having a birthday party for our four-year-old at noon. Feel free to use this table until then, but please leave it by noon so we can celebrate this special day with our family.' Something like that.”
Despite some being on the side of the family, the original poster on Reddit highlighted that park rangers do not take official reservations for tables.
With children’s parties often costing hundreds of pounds, it makes you realise why this family didn't want to hire out a private space.
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However, gambling on people adhering to a nonsensical note for your child’s birthday party does seem to be a bit of a risk.
James Hilsum