Mom forced to give up her seats with kids boldly refuses to put up with entitled stranger

It is considered a general code of good conduct to give up your table or seat for people who are old or sick. But there are chances that you might actually need a spot as much as the person approaching you. It happened with a mom, u/throwaway2e1, who went to a mall with her 5-year-old and 3-year-old kids. While waiting for her husband at the mall, she encountered a rude woman who fought with her for her table. However, the mom was not in the mood to put up with the verbal abuse and clapped back most savagely. 

The woman explained, "I took my kids out to the mall the other day. My husband took the car to work, so my brother dropped us off and my husband was going to pick us up." She added, "We were there for a couple of hours and the kids had loads of fun. But they're 5 and 3 and were exhausted by the time my husband had to pick us up. I was also extremely tired." The mom ordered some fries for her kids and the family sat down at one of the tables at the food court to wait for the dad. "After a bit, I gave my oldest my phone to watch something while my younger one was napping in my arms. My husband was stuck in traffic, so he was going to be late by an hour or so," the mom revealed.

When the family sat down at the table, the food court was pretty empty, but it started filling up soon. "A young woman and her mother approached us and asked if we were done with the table. I apologized and said no," the mom shared. "The younger lady got annoyed and said we clearly aren't eating anything and that I've been sitting at the table doing nothing for 20 minutes now," she pointed out. The woman apologized once again and requested her to ask someone else to give up their table. "She then started to guilt trip me about her mother being old and tired and how my kids and I are still young, so we should be able to give up our table," the woman further added.

The mom apologized again but refused to move from the table. "She then got closer and started yelling about how disrespectful and rude I was towards her sick mother. It was very loud and other people started looking," the woman remarked. Her kids got scared and her napping child woke up from the screaming. "I immediately asked her to be quiet as she was scaring my kids. She rolled her eyes at me and said my kids are in public and aren't entitled to quiet," she went on. "I just said you and your mother aren't entitled to a table either." Things escalated quickly as the young woman said that was entirely different and a security guard approached them to intervene.

"We explained what happened and he told her that she was causing a scene and she left after calling me rude and entitled," the woman disclosed. The security guard told the mom that she should have given up her table, but also that "it was none of his business" and then walked away. When her husband came to pick her up, he took her side. "His coworker that was with him privately told me I couldn't have been that tired and that I'm in public and should have some awareness," the mom concluded. She also shared how the mall had no policy for emptying a table as soon as a person was done with their food.

People took to the comments to support the woman. u/IamIrene wrote, "Uh...no. You had every right to stay at that table for as long as you needed to. You were a customer of the mall/food court. You purchased food, sat down and ate. Unless there is a posted policy in the food court, you could have camped out there all day long. That woman was pushy and rude and used to getting her way. I'm so very glad you denied them, lol." u/Sea-Ad3724 commented, "Who is this coworker to have an opinion about how tired you were or this situation? I would just ignore them."