Italian woman refuses to share her café table with couple, they ignore her and sit anyway, she publicly confronts them: ‘I want to sit alone, ask someone else’

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Bar Mor Hazut • Senior Editor
Aug 17, 2025 9:00 PM EDT

Imagine you're alone at a café, sitting at a four-person table, and someone comes up asking to sit with you—how would you respond?

Some people think that once you sit at a table, you have every right to decide whether or not you want someone else to occupy that space, and if you are not up for sharing, that is totally acceptable. Other people believe that taking up unnecessary space in public is quite entitled, and if someone asks you to share, the least you can do is say yes.

These two groups are exactly the two sides debating about the story below. When a woman in an Italian café refused to share her 4-person table with another couple, she thought she was being reasonable. The other couple, and many others who have read her story, thought she acted unnecessarily entitled, believing she should have let the strangers share her table with her. 

What do you think? Scroll down to read the full story and let us know in the comments below.

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  • 01
    Woman Sitting at Outdoor Café in Rome
    via RossHelen

    Image is representative only and does not depict the actual subjects of the story.

  • 02

    AITA for insisting a couple couldn’t sit at my café table after they ignored my first “no”?

    I (30F) was in Italy recently, sitting alone at a table for four outside a café. It was a nice morning, all the outdoor tables were
    via lucyyy75
  • 03
    occupied, and I was just drinking coffee and eating pastry. An English speaking couple came up to me and asked
    via lucyyy75
  • 04
    (politely) if they could join my table. I told them I'd prefer to sit alone. Instead of accepting that, they told me there was nowhere else
    via lucyyy75
  • 05
    to sit (which wasn't true) and put their personal items on the table before going inside to order. I was annoyed because I had been clear, and I
    via lucyyy75
  • 06
    wanted to enjoy my coffee in peace without listening to strangers' conversations at such close distance. When they came back, I told them again that I
    via lucyyy75
  • 07
    wanted to sit alone and suggested they ask someone else instead. They seemed unhappy but left. For context, there were other couples outside also
    via lucyyy75
  • 08
    sitting at tables for four, so it wasn't like I was the only person taking up extra space. I was sitting at table for four, because the cafe didn't have smaller tables.
    via lucyyy75
  • 09
    There were also lot of empty tables inside, but they didn't want to sit there.
    via lucyyy75
  • 10
    Afterwards, I felt a bit bad, wondering if I had been unnecessarily unpleasant, even though I still think my boundaries were reasonable
    via lucyyy75
  • 11
    Now I'm wondering if I was r de or if they were the r de ones for ignoring my first answer. EDIT: I am not American
    via lucyyy75
  • 12
    Cheezburger Image 10543176960
    via Ksenia Chernaya

    Image is representative only and does not depict the actual subjects of the story.

  • 13
    Hour Mathematician83 I've always said "sure! "If someone asked to share my table, but one time I really got SC .ved and this guy was so weird and talked and talked and
    via Hour_Mathematician83
  • 14
    talked and talked and talked and was very invasive and strange and I really wish I hadn't agreed to let him sit at my table.
    via Hour_Mathematician83
  • 15
    TALKTOME0701 Why does everyone call everything a boundary? Aside from that-, from my visits, it's pretty common to share tables.
    via TALKTOME0701
  • 16
    Especially outside. Asking is just to be polite. One person at a table for 4 would be expected to share it. calling it a "boundary" when It's a public table at a public restaurant with self seating takes you into AH territory IMO
    via TALKTOME0701
  • 17
    Tormenta Electronica I think cultural context is important here. Sharing a table with strangers in Italy is NOT the standard, not expected and not normal at all. So no, NTA
    via TormentaElectronica
  • 18
    kindcrow Sitting alone at a table for four in a desirable area of the restaurant? Come ON. Yta.
    via kindcrow
  • 19
    Loreo 1964 Soft YTA. It's an Italian outdoor cafe. That's customary. More often than not, people just sit down without even asking or just say," are these seats taken?" And sit. It's a communal dining country.
    via Loreo1964
  • 20
    Frappe_feb I'm Italian and never heard of sharing a table with a stranger, it's live invading their privacy, maybe somewhere specifically in Italy but here near Rome never heard about this.
    via Frappe_feb
  • 21
    kururun Where are you guys coming from because it's not normal in Italy to share tables with strangers???? They asked and op said no and they decided to
    via kururun_
  • 22
    ignore op, the only here are them. It's ok to share only if the person or people who are sitting there are ok with it. NTA.
    via kururun_

  • While we don't think the woman had to agree to share her table, we do think they could have found a middle ground. She could have offered the couple to take the chairs and sit somewhere else, for example, and keep the table itself. There was no reason to make anyone uncomfortable…

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