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Redditor Refuses to Get Out of Elevator When Mom of 7 Kids Demands It. Who's Right and Who's Wrong?
Elizabeth Morey
Reddit's "Am I the A-Hole" (AITA) forum is a common place for people to go for advice when they're wondering if they've done something wrong or if the other person in the situation is the one who's made the inappropriate move. Commenters will usually respond with one of these four answers, followed by an explanation:
- YTA: you're the a-hole
- NTA: not the a-hole
- NAH: no a-holes here
- ESH: everyone sucks here
In this case, a poster (OP) has a question about whether they should have gotten out of the elevator when a mother of 7 demanded it so that there would be room for her stroller.
"A neighbour of mine has 7 children, and they are all under the age of 9. I have seen her many times, and she always demands people take the next elevator because 'she has kids who need to get home.' She has physically shoved into the elevators and forced people out, including my elderly father."
The OP goes on to describe how crazy and uncontrolled the children are and how they arrived at their building one day at almost the same time - but OP got to the elevator first.
"She came in with her double stroller and her gaggle of children running around her as I stepped into the elevator and held the door for her. She told me that I would have to get out and wait for the next one. I said 'excuse me?' She heavy sighed at me and said 'my stroller won’t fit in with you in here. Get out and take the next one.' I refused, saying I would make myself as tiny as I could but I was staying in the elevator. She became irate, pointed at her kids and said 'do you see what I’m dealing with here?!' I said I understood that it’s overwhelming but I had worked a long day and I needed to get home. I said, 'in or out, because I’m going now.' She pulled her stroller and kids out, calling me an a-hole the entire time. A few people were waiting behind her and got in with me. Two began thanking me for standing up to her because she does this 'all the time,' but the other one called me an a-hole for not being sympathetic to her situation."
Thankfully, Reddit has come to OP's rescue. Some commenters even said they didn't need to read past the first line to know that OP was NTA. If you choose to have a whole herd of children, it's not anyone else's duty to give you special accommodations for them. Dealing with them is your own problem.
SneakyRaid comments, "'Do you see what I’m dealing with here?!' The consequences of your choices, you mean?"
Pmags3000 chimes in, "Sympathy doesn't work when it's demanded."
Some people even thing the OP was too nice to the mom. "Even after OP sat there and kindly held the elevator for her rude self," says False-Explanation702. "Knowing her history, I would have raced to get there first and firmly held the 'doors closed' button."
It seems the answer is clear here; Reddit has declared that OP is NTA and that the mother of 7 needs to be more grateful for the polite people who try to help her and less demanding of those who don't.
Perhaps OP summed it up best by saying, "I don’t think people should have to make constant accommodations for people just because they have kids, especially when they’re rude and demanding."
