Common sense seems to be a lot less common nowadays.

One man was waiting for a table at a packed restaurant when an elderly woman with a walker shuffled in, breathing heavily with both legs wrapped in bandages.

He stood up, offered her his seat, and her family thanked him warmly.

But by the time he turned around, an ornery child had slid into the chair. He asked the boy politely to move, but the kid was quick to retort that the chair didn’t have his name on it.

When the man told him to be nice, the boy screamed that he was being bullied.

It didn’t take long for the boy’s mother to join, creating a huge pre-dinner scene for the whole lobby.

Keep reading for the full story.

AITA for telling a child to move?

My family and I were at a restaurant, and since it was a busy night, we were waiting for a table.

We were sitting in the lobby area, and all other seats were full, and there were plenty of people standing around due to the lack of seating.

Soon the waiting area began to fill up even more.

Another group came into the restaurant and also had to wait for a table. In the group was an elderly woman with a walker.

She was walking very slowly and was clearly having a hard time. She was breathing a bit heavily, and both legs were wrapped with bandages.

That’s when this bystander decided to be a good citizen.

I got up and went over to them, not ten feet away, and offered the woman my seat.

She and the family thanked me way too much for offering, and when I turned around, a child around 10 had taken the seat.

He decided to intervene once again.

I walked up and said, “Hey there, I got up to let this nice lady have my seat. Can you please move?”

This child’s face turned red, and he said that the chair didn’t have my name on it and I gave it up when I walked away.

Which, in any other circumstance, I would agree with. But I think it’s just common sense to give up your seat to someone who actually needs it.

He wasn’t going to let this go.

I said, “Come on, kid, be nice.” That was the final straw apparently, because he started screaming for his mom, saying that I was bullying him and wouldn’t leave him alone.

Of course, the mother takes the child’s side.

Mom was just as considerate as her child and berated me for telling her child what to do. I tried again to say that some people need to sit, and her kid should be considerate to the elderly.

But by then, the child was crying and everyone was staring, and the family of the woman with the walker looked so uncomfortable, saying, “It’s fine, it’s fine, let him have it.”

So I dropped it and just begrudgingly said, “Okay.” I moved to the side and waited for a table, and the whole time, the mom and kid were glaring at me.

The kid is learning all the wrong lessons from this.

I overheard her telling her son that he did the right thing by yelling for her because a stranger approached him.

I’m very conflicted. I can see where the mom is coming from, but at the same time, I think she should have also taught her kid more consideration for the elderly woman.

AITA for expecting others to have common courtesy?

Common courtesy is a bit of a lost art nowadays.

What did Reddit think?

Many people can’t be trusted to do the right thing.

This user would never let something like this happen.

Claiming “stranger danger” every time someone is trying to talk to you (or hold you accountable) doesn’t really make much sense.

People used to parent. Now, this reader isn’t so sure.

This man tried to do something decent but still somehow got treated like a menace for it.

Asking a child politely to move for someone who needs the seat more is hardly problematic, and most reasonable people would agree.

“Stranger danger” doesn’t really apply here.