At the cat cafe today, two (supposedly) 10-year-old girls pushed past me to get to the swing chairs at the back, despite the fact I was practically there.
Was it unreasonable to be glad when the girls’ adult (I’m guessing Mum) told them to go upstairs instead?
Bit of context for you - my husband and I go to this cat cafe every week for two hours at a time. We always sit in the swing chairs at the back, because they’re the only ones in the cafe that don’t give me back pain. It’s very difficult for me to get up from any of the other seats without help from my husband and my stick.
I’m also autistic, and sitting in the swing chair on the left is part of my cat cafe routine. The girls pushing past me threw me, and caused me to get close to a meltdown - very rare for me in public.
On my husband’s suggestion, I’ve asked my friend, Lily, who owns the cat cafe, if we can reserve the spot on further bookings, and she’s said “Yes, definitely”.
You did not react unreasonably. But it’s not reasonable to expect “your spot” to be saved for you every time you’re in a public place. It’s not unreasonable for two children to take seats that they have no way of knowing are your preferred seats. Reserving the seats in the future is a great move.
I think it was the shoving past me that made it worse.
The seats have been occupied by other people on another occasion, when I ended up in a different spot, and I couldn’t move the following day because of the agony my back was in - painkillers barely touched the sides!
I totally get it. But kids are kids and “practically there” is a vague measurement that could mean anything from already lowering yourself into the seat to 10-15 feet away moseying in that direction. I’m relatively certain the kids didn’t mean any harm, especially with how their guardian got them to move quickly. You sometimes have to cut kids a bit more slack than you want to.
I’m glad your friend could reserve them for you! I find it kinda inappropriate that kids any older than 6 would bust past someone like that. I feel like even that young I still had better awareness and manners, but I guess I understand the excitement of being in a entire building of kitties.
It wasn’t unreasonable to feel that way - had you said something to the kids about not taking the seats (when they weren’t reserved), that would have been something else.
That’s closer than I was picturing. And saying something wouldn’t have been unreasonable in that situation. But if the seats weren’t reserved you still wouldn’t have had a good reason insist. Luckily the girls guardian realized they were being rude.
I think the idea of having a reserve section is an excellent one. If it doesn’t have a sign on it, it’s available to everyone but if a person with sensory issues needs a particular place to eat or drink it is good management to accommodate them. It’s also extremely rewarding to see that all disabilities are accommodated, not just the wheelchair bound. Fwiw, I have personal experience with folks on the spectrum and speak from experience.