Redditor's Crew Seizes Abandoned Park Table, Sparks Fierce Contest With The Returning Owner

When a family picnic meets unexpected guests after supposedly reserving a table for themselves. How do we settle this?

Jesse

• Published in Interesting
• May 23, 2023

Public spots are usually some of the most congested places ever. While they may be large and built to house crowds, many times, the facilities available aren’t enough.

Many people visit these public spots like parks, beaches, and pools with family and friends for maximum enjoyment. However, getting spaces to keep their property or even sit may be a problem.

As a result, people have a habit of reserving spots and hanging on to those spots with some belongings even though they aren’t physically present to watch over them and ensure nobody else stakes claim.

Keeping these spots without people watching over them may cause conflicts sometimes. 

We found a story on the AITA subreddit that paints a similar picture.

OP shared that they had gone to a public park for a barbecue picnic with friends. Although most of the park tables and chairs were occupied, OP and their friends found one that was seemingly vacant after walking for some time.

The table had some camping chairs on it, but there was no owner in sight, so OP asked the people nearby if the table was theirs, and they said it wasn’t. 

OP and their friends then set up the table for their use and set the camping chairs close to a tree beside the table.

About 10 minutes later, a man started yelling at OP and their friends, accusing them of taking his spot. 

After a while, OP and their friends vacated the table. However, they felt they were slighted, so they decided to ask other Redditors for their opinions. 

Check out the verdict below!

The story in detail

OP and their friends decided to move the folded chairs they saw under the empty table at the park, as the owners where nowhere to be found

Not long after, a man came over, claiming he had reserved the table for himself and his family. But OP and their friends weren't prepared to give up the table that easily

The man's family later joined in. And after about 10 mins of arguing, OP and their friends decided to let go. But they still feel they were right to have taken over the table because it was clearly empty

Here's what the Reddit community had to say about the story:

"NTA...You can't just put your stuff on a public space to reserve it for an indeterminate amount of time."

According to this Redditor, you can't just claim a public table in a public park by leaving your stuff underneath and unsupervised

"Really hard to say without knowing how long the chairs had been in the ground."

"If they parked far or walked far, he may have claimed the seat and had to go back and bring more stuff or let his family know where he was."

"YTA...You absolutely knew someone was using the space"

"YTA...You had to realize that by them leaving chairs there, they were claiming the spot"

"If it was just chairs (still folded up) and the table was unoccupied for more than 10 minutes, I’m going to go with NTA."

"YTA. It's not like it was takeaway food trash that someone had left there. It was camp chairs left visibly on the table."

"NTA...If he wanted to keep the spot, he should have stayed"

The commenters are torn between both sides of naming OP NTA and giving them the AH title. 

Some believe OP shouldn’t have removed someone else’s gear no matter what. While others believe the man is to be blamed for not having someone watch over the space.

Let us know what you think about this in the comments section!

Jesse