A woman dining out in a "fancy restaurant" says her experience was ruined somewhat after a couple seated near her took out a tripod, and began filming her when she was trying to enjoy her meal.
According to the baffled mum, the couple in question appeared to be "very keen on filming every move they made on their phones", which she was initially "fine" with.
But she began to feel uncomfortable when the duo whipped out their tripod to film themselves eating, pointing the camera in her direction.
To her dismay, she could see that she was also "unnecessarily captured" thanks to the angle they were shooting from.
Sharing her experience on Mumsnet, the disgruntled woman asked others for their thoughts on the matter, writing: "They proceeded to do this three times, for a couple of minutes at a time. What would you do in this situation?
"A. Say nothing? B. Ask couple to stop? C. Complain to fancy restaurant staff? I did one of the three, but am genuinely torn about what the best thing to do in this rather bizarre situation that made me quite uncomfortable. I will share what happened next once I gauge opinions."
One fellow Mumsnet user commented: "I'd have done option C. I bet they consider themselves Instagram influencers. Fair enough taking a few photos and possibly one video, but I'd have been p***** off too if they did it repeatedly."
Another indignant person remarked: "I would have asked to be moved to a different table as soon as they whipped their tripod out. No way I want to be in the background of influencers' videos."
A third replied: "C. I wouldn't want to be on camera complaining. I would be asking the restaurant to either intervene or move me to a different table."
Having read through their various opinions, the woman then shared what she did next, revealing: "Okay, so here it goes. I took option C and spoke to my very nice waiter to express that I was uncomfortable.
"He was kind of giggling at them as he found it strange himself. He told me he would speak to his manager. I thanked him. The manager walks up to the couple and asks them if they could stop filming as I am uncomfortable at the next table and asked them if I was on any of the footage. They assured her I wasn't."
She continued: "Then the manager walks over to our table and says loudly, don't worry you were not included in the footage. (I saw myself as they checked the footage before the complaint so that wasn't true)
"I was actually mortified. This was a very fancy reputable restaurant. The manager was a total idiot. She was as discreet as a kick in the face."
Do you have a bizarre or frustrating story to share? Email us at julia.banim@reachplc.com
