Viral

Woman called an 'a**hole' for asking to switch restaurant tables because of crying baby

Woman called an 'a**hole' for asking to switch restaurant tables because of crying baby
Man walks across restaurant tables and breaks a light
Doing Things Media

There are certain expectations people have when they visit a fancy restaurant in terms of the atmosphere - so what would you do if you were sat next to a crying baby?

Well, when one woman politely asked to be moved, only for the baby's mother to brand her an "a**hole" for switching tables.

So, she decided to get the verdict of Reddit's "Am I the A**hole?" forum to see if she was in the wrong for making this request by recounting what happened.

Sign up to our free Indy100 weekly newsletter

"My husband and I went out for dinner a couple of nights ago. It was the first time by ourselves after our baby was born. It’s my second child, the first for my husband so it was kind of a big deal for us. We got a babysitter and we went to a very nice fancy restaurant," she explained.

"A few minutes after we ordered, another couple sat on the table next to us… with a small baby in a stroller. At first it was fine but after a few minutes the baby started crying. They tried to comfort it, but every time it seemed they had managed to make it sleep, it woke up crying again.

"By then we just wanted to leave but we had already ordered so we decided to ask the waiter if we could change tables to the other side of the restaurant.

"The waiter asked if there was a problem and I said it was our first time out after having a baby and we didn’t feel like spending our evening next to someone else’s crying baby.

Fortunately, the waiter was "super nice" as he and another waiter set up a new table for the two of them.

The pair also weren't alone in moving as she noted how another couple in the same area also asked to be seated elsewhere.

However the mother of the baby was not happy when she heard they were moving because of her crying baby.

"The couple with the baby overheard what we said to the waiter and especially the mom got upset and called me an AH."

"She went on and on saying that I probably don’t have kids (mm.. I have 2), and that babies are also people and we should just accept that babies can be loud and cry and there’s nothing she could do about it.

The woman continued: "I didn’t want to start a fight or anything but I got really annoyed by her attitude, so I told her that she could actually do something about the crying.. she could take her baby home so it can properly sleep and then let everyone else there enjoy their meals.

"She kept saying stuff but I just ignored her, went to our new table and tried to have a nice dinner (although we could still hear the crying baby but at least it was not right next to us)."

The next day, the woman told her sister what happened who said that she "might have been an AH."

"She said I shouldn’t have said to the waiter that we wanted to move because of the baby and I shouldn’t have said what I said to the mom. So now I am not sure?? AITA?" the woman asked.

After posting what had happened, there were over a thousand comments in response where most sided with her and didn't think she was a**hole for requesting to move away from the crying baby.

One person said: "NTA. You have kids and got a babysitter. In what universe do you want to go to a fancy restaurant ANY time and listen to somebody else's crying baby at the next table. No way."

"NTA. I would have asked to move too," another person wrote. "Would never have let my child cry in a community space. I'd pop outside or ask for our meals to be boxed up. It's never ok to disrupt a space. That goes for drunk adults and loud talkers too."

Someone else added: "Life Pro Tip for teaching kids to be members of society: go to dead restaurants during the middle of the week to teach the little buggers how to behave in polite society without the fear of disrupting other patrons."

"It's the fancy restaurant part that got me. It's one thing at an Applebees level place, but when at a nicer place there is an expectation to have a certain atmosphere, and that doesn't include crying babies," a fourth person commented.

Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.

The Conversation (0)