A mum has taken to a popular online parenting forum to share her frustration after she was given dirty looks by a man for taking her toddler to a cafe. Since the pandemic more people appear to be working from home and may wish to change scenery by working in a coffee shop, but this parent is reminding people a public place isn't an office and you can't expect everyone else to be silent.
In a post on Mumsnet, the mum wrote about how a man was "sat sighing and rolling his eyes" at her toddler, and made her feel like she had no option but to confront him because of how rude he was being, reported the Daily Mirror. She stated: "I'm probably being unreasonable for posting here in the first place since there's a bit of an anti-kids in public sentiment here at times, but when did it become acceptable for people to think a coffee shop is the same as an office?
"I was just having breakfast and a coffee with my toddler and someone was taking a teams call at a nearby table. If it's relevant we were seated first.
"Toddler was being good as gold in my opinion. I get sometimes they can be too loud or badly behaved but they were just sat drinking their juice and having a little babble and sing, occasionally pointing out things they saw. 'Cup! Cup!' Obviously louder than if I was just sitting by myself but really not a disturbance and no louder than any other table of two chatting."
The mum continued: "The man sat sighing and rolling his eyes for about ten minutes until I just had to turn to him and say 'sorry but this is actually a cafe, not an office, if you're in a meeting and need silence you're in the wrong place'. He did a big huff, picked up his laptop, and walked off trying to find a new table but had to come back as it was too busy.
"Now he's sitting there giving me evil eyes. Am I being unreasonable to think I'm not in the wrong here? I'm really not a confrontational person and normally wouldn't speak up but a public cafe at breakfast time isn't exactly the place to do a work meeting!
"If people want to rave about working from home then go f***ing work at home. People out in public don't need to tiptoe around you because you want a change of scenery during the work day while you sit in meetings."
It wasn't long before other people started commenting and telling the mum she had done nothing wrong, and that she should be able to go to a cafe with her toddler without fear of being sighed at.
One user commented: "Not at all unreasonable - it's a public space, child friendly. Why shouldn’t you take your child to a cafe?" Another stated: "No, you're not in the wrong. If they want somewhere to work, they can rent a desk in a co-working space."
A third added: "If he wants silence, he can lock himself in his bathroom at home." Whilst another typed: "You are not being unreasonable, and well done for saying something.
"It's always the people working who are in there for ages too, taking up a table way after they've finished their coffee because obviously, their work is so important. I've only worked in a cafe once when my internet went down and I didn't expect silence around me at all."
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