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Wanting a little time to yourself doesn’t mean you have to feel guilty for saying no to company.

One woman found herself in that situation after stopping at a pub for a quiet drink before doing some shopping.

Even though there were plenty of empty tables, an older man asked if he could sit with her.

When she explained that she wanted to be alone, he still insisted on taking that particular table.

So, she smiled, gave him the table, and moved somewhere else.

Read on to see what happened next.

AITA for not wanting to sit with elderly man?

I (32F) was headed out to do some shopping and stopped at a pub on the way to have a beer for a wee treat.

I sat outside to enjoy the fresh air, etc., in the pub garden, which was quite busy but had plenty of free seats/tables.

An older man (maybe 70ish, idk) asked if he could sit at my table with me.

She tried to show him all the other empty tables.

Normally, I wouldn’t care, but I’m not in a great mood and just wanted to sit alone and enjoy my drink without talking to anyone.

He looked probably a bit drunk already, and my assumption is that he wanted company rather than that he just wanted my specific table.

I pointed out that there were empty tables, but he said, “No, I want to sit here, though,” so I said that was fine, but that I would move and he could have my table.

When she moved, he seemed pretty upset.

He was quite affronted and kept saying I shouldn’t move. I stayed smiling and told him I just wanted to sit alone, but to enjoy his time, and moved to a different table. I could see that he was pacing about a bit angrily and was maybe talking to other people about it.

I know I have the right to sit alone, but I also wonder if he was maybe just lonely and didn’t want to sit by himself or something. Or maybe he just wanted to sit in that place quietly and not talk to me, and I overreacted by moving.

Just worried I made him feel bad and overreacted because I assumed he wanted a chat when maybe he didn’t?

AITA?

Eek! It’s easy to see both sides, but not everyone wants to sit with a stranger.

Let’s see what the people over at Reddit would’ve done.

This person is not okay with his reaction.

According to this comment, she shouldn’t even care.

This person thinks she had no obligation to him whatsoever.

If you enjoyed this story, check out this post about a brother who is concerned about the trouble with splitting funeral costs equally between siblings.

Here’s someone who thinks the man was up to no good.

Everyone is entitled to their own peace.

She went there because she wanted to sit outside and enjoy a drink by herself for a little while.

But this guy clearly seemed to want more than an empty seat. There were plenty of other tables, and he still insisted on hers.

At the end of the day, she was polite about it, so there’s really nothing here for her to feel bad about.