Yesterday (7/3) I went down to set my chair out for the annual parade in my town for the Fourth of July. I was early, but not early enough. All front row space was taken. No problem. I setup my chair in a second row that has started forming. I choose a spot with three of those low beach chairs in front of me so I still have a pretty good view.
Today I am sitting in my second row chair getting ready for the parade. The people in front of me show up. They make it clear from conversations with each other that they had planned to pull their chairs back and place a blanket down in the front row for kids. There is space when I can move down to my right, but not without having people in tall chairs right in front of me, blocking my view.
As the parade starts, I start noticing micro aggressions toward me from the front seat folks. At one point, I got up to offer my seat to an elderly gentleman standing behind me. As I left, one of the men hovered right in front of my seat, blocking me from getting back to me seat. Two women kept touching my seat, hovering. At one point, a woman in front of me aggressively threw her chair back into the left side of mine to make room on their blanket. She was about an inch from landing on my toes. She was having a mini tantrum. I said nothing.
A couple minutes after that, one of the women in the group asked me to move over.
I said no.
I said I had intentionally chose a spot with short chairs in front of me.
I was reflecting on this afterwards, and I personally think these folks acted really entitled. It wasn’t good enough for them to have front row. They wanted front row and the unmarked space behind them. And the subtle bullying was just not it.
I could’ve moved. But I wasn’t feeling very enchanted by their behavior. AITA?
Refused to move my chair at 4th of July parade
r/AITAH
Comments
NTA. u showed up early, saw what was available, and picked ur spot. ppl don’t get to “claim” extra space they didn’t mark just b/c they wanna spread out later. if they needed extra room, they shoulda planned for that, not bullied ppl who got there earlier than them. u did nothing wrong
NTA in this situation but we can tell by your writing how annoying you are
I think anyone who tries to reserve a spot for a parade is an ahole. You show up on the day and if you want a good seat you show up early not clutter up the area with chairs and other things 24 to 48 hours before the actual event.
NTA. Fuck those people. Happy 4th.
NTA. You selected your position fairly. They should have indicated it in case they required additional space behind them. This is not reserved seating in a concert
You got there early picked a reasonable spot and didn’t block anyone. They acted entitled and rude.
NTA
The words “Fuck Off” would have stopped a lot of that hassle.
Where the heck do you live where you go set up a chair the day before for a 4th of July parade? Like… I’m cackling over here trying to imagine this being a thing. Please enlighten me on the ways of your town 🙏
If you wanna claim space for a blanket in this bizarre situation, you place extra chairs. Being sure to hold all the space you intend to use. You placed your chair in a free space. It’s not your fault they didn’t reserve enough space.
NTA
I personally really dislike planting chairs so long before an event that you’re leaving them overnight, but I get that this is standard/normal in many communities and you practiced GOOD etiquette by settling for the second row instead of disrespecting anyone else’s setup.
NTA. You are in no way an AH. These people shouldn’t moan with entitlement, they should understand that they’re lucky no one moved their unattended stuff.
This is so indicative of the times we live in. People have gotten so entitled and selfish.
Why was the parade on July 3?