A woman has been branded "mean and selfish" for refusing to share her picnic with a hungry child in the park. The 22-year-old explained how she treats herself to a solo picnic in the park every now and then as a way to "unwind" after a challenging week at work.
She makes sure to pack her favourite snacks and a book to read while enjoying the sunshine in the peace and quiet. Taking to Reddit, she said: "I went to a well known park in my city where I packed a basket of food and a book to enjoy the last few hours of the sun before heading home.
"As I was reading and enjoying my snacks I had a little girl come up to me a few times which I would acknowledge with a smile and then go back to reading my book. It came to the point where I would just ignore her when I sensed her coming because I wasn't up for engaging in a conversation with anyone due to being drained from work."
But on the girl's sixth visit, she sat down on her picnic mat and started "eyeing up" the food in her basket. "I looked around for her parents and I shortly see her mum coming up to me and apologising for her daughter disrupting me. I told her it was OK and carried on reading my book after she took her daughter back to the playground," she added.
But just minutes later, the little girl returned to say 'I like strawberries' while pointing to the punnet inside her basket. She said: "I replied, 'That's nice, me too,' without looking up from my book hoping her mum would come back again to take her away because I was getting a bit uncomfortable.
"Another lady who the kid referred to as her aunt came up to us and was telling me what a nice little set up I had. I thanked her and thought she would take her niece away, but then I hear the kid telling her she wants some of my food.
"The aunt then asks me if it would be OK for her niece to have some of my food. I politely told her I wasn't comfortable sharing my food due to personal preference and pointed out that there was a café nearby where they could purchase their own."
Disgusted, the aunt called her 'selfish' and a 'mean lady' for not sharing her snacks with the young child when she's clearly hungry. "I told her that it's unfortunate that she feels that way but I'm not obligated to feed her niece and asked her if she ever heard of schools teaching kids to not accept food from strangers before," the woman said.
"She said that this was a different case and that she was asking me to share and it wasn't like I poisoned it or offered to share with her niece without anyone’s knowledge. I told her that I was sorry but I'm still not comfortable and started to pack up to leave, the mother came over as I was walking away and told her sister to leave me alone.
"The aunt kept yelling loudly that she hopes her niece wouldn't end up being as selfish as me and this was why I was picnicking on my own and caused the whole park to hear it. [I started] getting dirty looks from other parents who didn't know the context."
After returning home, the woman told her mum all about what happened in the park expecting her to take her side on the matter - but she ended up getting a second scolding. "I came home and told my mum what happened as a light hearted story during dinner but she told me I should've just shared my food with the child even though she knows the reason why I don't like to share food in general," she said.
"[My mum said] that she, 'Didn't raise me to be a selfish person' to the point I couldn't have given her at least one strawberry. I told her it's not my responsibility to feed other people's kids and that just because someone asks for something it doesn't mean they will get it.
"Thinking about it now, I do feel like a bit of an a*** because it's kind of petty and its not like I dislike children I just prefer not to interact with them." Wanting to know whether she's in the wrong, she has taken to Reddit to ask users for their thoughts.
In response, one user said: "Don't give in to bullies, the aunt couldn't get her way so she decided to humiliate you. Your mother sounds like a 'Don't rock the boat' type. Perhaps ask your mum why she chooses to side with strangers who humiliated and bullied you in public, instead of standing with her own child. The answer will be enlightening and guide your future relationship with her."
Another user added: "This is just weird. Those people should have been watching their damn kid and not let them just dillydally about visiting complete strangers. They were totally negligent of what this child was doing, and when the little girl was begging you for food, they didn’t bother to teach her the principle that things that others have are not their own.
"You went to the park to enjoy your own peace and solitude. You didn’t go to the park to provide food for all the starving children of the world. Her mother took her to the park, she could have bought her snacks before she even went there. That woman should have watched her kid."
A third user said: "Who would let a kid eat food from a stranger? Seriously. For all they you could have been some crazy lady who laced the food with something and was sitting there just waiting for some curious kid. This stuff happens. It isn't crazy talk.
"This is also why I don't get Halloween but that's another story. You are under no obligation to share your food with anyone. If you had, the kid had gotten sick, you bet your butt they'd have blamed you."
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