'AITA for not telling a woman she was about to sit in poop?' 'SERIOUSLY?'
"AITA for not telling a woman she was about to sit in poop?"
I (26M) was at a crowded park recently where there were food trucks set up and people sitting around eating. Seating was pretty limited, and most people were sitting on this low concrete wall that runs along the edge of a parking lot. On the other side of the wall is a grassy area that's level with the top of the wall, so people sit with their backs toward the grass and legs facing the lot.
I had just gotten my food when I noticed the only free spot left. At the same time, I saw a girl, well dressed for the park also walking toward it. She saw it first and was headed that way, but I was closer and got there before her despite her running when she saw me approaching it.
As I got to it, I looked down at the grass behind the wall and saw a big pile of dog poop right where someone’s lower back or clothes would land if they leaned or sat back. It was pretty gross, and I decided not to sit.
Right then, she walked up and looked annoyed, saying, “Seriously? I was going to sit there.” I didn’t want to make a thing of it, so I just stepped aside and said, “Go ahead, you can have it.”
She immediately sat down without checking behind her and just a second later jumped up with a disgusted look on her face. The poop was stuck to the back of her skirt. She turned to me and snapped, “Why didn’t you say anything?”
I told her, “I saw it, yeah, but I didn’t know how you were planning to sit. For all I knew you were just going to perch on the edge or sit upright. It’s a park — people walk their dogs here. You’ve got to check before sitting down.”
She kept insisting I should’ve warned her, but I told her I wasn’t trying to be petty, I genuinely didn’t know how far back she was going to lean or sit, and it wasn’t really my responsibility to check the ground for her. She could have sat only on the wall and not on the grass and would have been fine.
She eventually walked off frustrated, but now I’m wondering if I should’ve just said something anyway. But I feel like especially since she was so confrontational about the spot it wasn't really necessary. AITA?
Here's what people had to say to OP:
kmactane said:
"I told her I wasn’t trying to be petty." This is the part where we need David Beckham poking his nose out of his bedroom door and saying "Be honest." You were 100% being petty, and you know it.
If it was so likely that she might have sat in some way that didn't get her covered with poop, if that was so easy...then why did you get up? You didn't want to sit there because, even though you'd already seen the poop and knew where it was, you still figured there was a strong chance of you winding up with crap on your back. YTA.
eggynack said:
I'ma go with YTA. You knew there was a reasonably high chance that she was about to get pooped, and your offering the seat to her carries the implication, to some extent at least, that she was not about to get pooped. She was being a bit rude, sounds like, but I dunno that she was being poop rude.
Agreeable_Metal7342 said:
“She saw it first” you recognize - so you attempted to take a seat you were aware someone else was already headed toward, got angry when she called you out on it, and deliberately allowed her to sit in dog shit as revenge for her standing up for herself. YTA.
eastcoastnice said:
Oh come on. YTA. Seeing poop and knowing someone who has not egregiously wronged you in life is about it to sit in it? YTA.
Alert_Ice_7156 said:
YTA in this situation and in general I expect. You knew she was going for the seat but decided to sit there anyway. The only reason you didn’t is because of the poop. Then you said nothing. You would have been in the clear if you just let her have the seat you knew she was hustling to.
FromEden26 said:
YTA I don't understand what she did to deserve this.