Nothing kills the vibe of a meal out on the town faster than an argument with a stranger.
In a popular post on the AITA subreddit, a teen asked if they were wrong for getting in an argument with a grandma at a restaurant. They wrote:
Hi y‘all! This sub recently helped me out with another issue so I figured I could return and present another issue, even though it‘s not that dramatic.
Context: My family was at a restaurant to eat out because we celebrated uncle‘s 50th birthday. We also brought our dog along. I completely understand when people are annoyed when there are dogs everywhere and some people really take it too far, I get it, but basically we had no choice. Our girl has trauma and can‘t stay alone for too long and we had no one to watch her.
And, I know everyone says that, but she‘s really well-behaved. She just lays under the table, looks around a bit, and sometimes begs a little, but only from us. She‘s also really small. Anyway, there were some couples and groups of threes present but the only other bigger party were, what I guess, a mum, a grandma and two kids (3-6ish). I should say that I like kids. I really do.
I want to work with kids in fact (I‘m 18, btw). But these little guys were still somewhat disturbing. They screeched and yelled and one of the kids asked like three times for fries when they had already ordered for him. A bit annoying but not to the point I would complain, honestly.
However, pretty suddenly the grandma started to complain about people that bring their dog everywhere and that it‘s so gross when one is in a closed area. She looked in our direction with an annoyed face and I admit, it annoyed me pretty much. Would it have been any of the other guests, I would understand.
But our girl was simply minding her own business while their kiddos annoyed everyone. So I looked at her and said "That‘s rich coming from you, since your group is the most disturbing one here while no one complains about Tinka."
The grandma stared at me and then looked at my parents so they would say something but my mom simply continued to eat and my dad looked back at her and grinned. She looked like she wanted to say more but the other woman told her to let it be and tried to calm the kids down. We didn‘t interact further during the rest of our stay.
This happened two days ago but I‘m still unsure if I was my call to say what I said. Because I know how kids can be and it really can be annoying when everyone brings their dog everywhere but I just felt the need to defend my dog because she wasn‘t doing anything. So Reddit, AITA?
Edit: I didn‘t ask if I‘m the AH for bringing our dog with us. The restaurant was dog-friendly.
KaleidoscopicColours wrote:
The kids were disturbing everyone, the dog was being quiet and unobtrusive.
The kids were being objectively detrimental to other diner's experience, while the grandma simply didn't like dogs, even though yours was doing nothing wrong.
If they don't like dogs then they can pick a restaurant that isn't dog-friendly, and they should learn to control their children so they don't disturb other people's special occasion. You just called her out on the kid's poor behaviour and she didn't like it. NTA.
jryan102 wrote:
ESH - I don’t care how well-behaved your dog is. Unless it’s a service animal specifically trained to be in public spaces like this you shouldn’t be bringing it to restaurants with you. You don’t know who has allergies, is just afraid of dogs, and you can’t be sure that a dog won’t bark.
The lady is AH for being oblivious and for being rude to you. Even if I did see someone who brought their dog where I felt it didn’t belong, I wouldn’t make a rude remark towards them. If there was a real issue with their dog being there I would talk to them directly to resolve the issue or seek help from the manager/whoever is in charge.
Pretty_Marketing_538 wrote:
NTA obviously. Place was dog allowing and dog was quiet. Children was disturbing and also disturbing are adults who think kids can behave wherever they want. Old fart was YTA.
mightbeacrow wrote:
NTA since the restaurant allowed dogs. If a place allows pets and you have issues with it you should not go. But you have bigger issues if your dog cannot be left alone, you need to seek a vet since there are puppy anxiety meds, if you want to bring here along fair enough, but she is not a human being you treating here as such might prevent here from getting the care she needs.
And OP responded:
She can be left alone for a short time and since my dad is retired, nearly every time someone is at home. I‘ll ask my parents about the meds. We don‘t treat her like a human, honestly, we know there‘s a huge difference.
angryomlette wrote:
NTA. You just replied in the same tone as the belligerent granny. Don't worry about it, people need reminding sometimes that age doesn't always equal to maturity and sense. And speaking back in situations like this is perfectly normal and helps the individual navigate the BS of the world.
It looks like the internet has unanimously agreed that OP is NTA.