Passive aggressive note ‘reserving’ park tables sparks online debate

In a time when everything is getting more expensive and we’re all wondering if the high cost of kids’ birthday parties can really be justified, hosting a party at the park can be an appealing middle ground, especially for younger kids who are sure to have a blast running around and playing together. But one family went about this in a way that sparked an intense debate online.

Their party made it to the r/mildlyinfuriating subreddit, where someone posted a photo of the note the party planners left at their local park table to “reserve” it for their child’s birthday party. Now, while some parks do have pavilions or special areas you can reserve for parties, generally, the tables are first come, first serve. From the post that accompanied the picture, it sounds like that was the case here. But that’s not all that made this mildly infuriating. The note itself was incredibly passive aggressive.

It read: “Reserved for a birthday party. Please respect the space we’ve set aside and do not use our tables. This is for a four-year-old’s party, don’t be the one to mess it up, thank you.”

The photo was posted by a fellow park-goer, who wrote, “Busy public park on a hot Saturday/public holiday weekend. Seems super entitled. The note has been there for four hours, and there is no sign of them. All the other tables are full.”

In an update, the person who posted the photo wrote that the birthday party crew didn’t show up until six hours later, and when they did, they brought unruly guests and played loud music. With their sense of entitlement to keep a park table empty all day, that does seem par for the course.

In the comments, people definitely sounded off.

“As a parent who has gotten up at 5 a.m. and sat at one of these to keep it reserved, please just use the tables! How rude of them!” one person wrote.

Another one added, “It’s just like people reserving pool chairs at 7 am and not showing up to the pool until 3 pm!”

One commenter tried to sympathize with the family.

“Yeah, I really want to be on their side, but without a time on the note, the note is just useless,” they said. “‘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.”

Which side are you on?