u/RoseTintedMess

I never imagined that a holiday with my four-year-old daughter would leave me feeling genuinely afraid for our safety.

I’m 24, quite small, and I was on holiday alone with my daughter. We were spending some time by the pool when I noticed two sunbeds that appeared to be unused. There were towels on them, but no one had been around for hours.

A family had apparently tried to reserve the two sunbeds earlier and then left. I asked about them and was told they weren’t currently being used, so I removed the towels and my daughter and I began using the beds.

I thought that was the end of it.

It wasn’t.

Hours later, the family returned.

At first, I expected an argument. Maybe some shouting. Maybe someone telling me that the beds were theirs and asking me to move.

Instead, two members of the family approached us and things escalated almost immediately.

They were both much older and considerably larger than me. Before I could properly process what was happening, they actually tried to physically lift and drag my four-year-old daughter off the sunbed.

I was absolutely horrified.

This wasn’t an argument anymore. This was someone putting their hands on my child.

I tried to intervene, and they then attempted to physically move me as well.

I remember feeling completely helpless. I’m small, I’m alone in a foreign country, and the person I was responsible for protecting was my four-year-old daughter.

Things became even more frightening when they tried to attack me—not once, but twice.

There were people all around the pool, but in that moment I felt incredibly vulnerable. I genuinely didn’t know what they were going to do next.

Thankfully one of the family’s own daughters stepped in and physically dragged them away from us.

Then 2 women who had been nearby came over to help me and my daughter. I will never forget that. In a situation where I felt completely alone, strangers stepped forward to make sure we were okay.

And that’s the part that still gets to me.

I understand that sunbeds can cause arguments on holiday. Everyone has heard the jokes about “sunbed wars” and people getting up at the crack of dawn to put towels down.

But surely there has to be a line.

If someone takes your sunbed, you can complain. You can ask them to move. You can speak to hotel staff. You can be annoyed.

You don’t put your hands on a four-year-old child.

You don’t physically try to remove a young woman who is alone with her daughter.

And you certainly don’t attempt to attack her over a sunbed.

Looking back, I can accept that removing their towels may have been questionable if they genuinely believed they had reserved the beds. Maybe I should have asked staff to clarify the rules instead.

But whatever mistake I may have made over two sunbeds does not justify what happened afterwards.

I wasn’t expecting a confrontation. I certainly wasn’t expecting to have to protect my daughter from adults trying to physically remove her from a sunbed.

I went to the pool that day expecting nothing more than a relaxing afternoon with my little girl.

Instead, I left feeling shaken, frightened and incredibly grateful to the strangers who stepped in when we needed help.

I’m 24 and currently on holiday by myself with my 4-year-old daughter. I’m also quite small (around 8 stone).

I was at the pool at Castillo Beach with my daughter when a family approached us because they tried reserving 2 sunbeds left and returned hours later. I asked and was told they wasn’t being used at the moment so I removed their towels and began using them. They returned and two members of the family, who were much larger and older than me, proceeded to try to lift and drag my 4-year-old daughter off the sunbed, and then tried to do the same to me.

Things then escalated, and they tried to attack me twice in front of everyone around the pool. Thankfully, their daughter, who was wearing a yellow top, had to physically drag them away.

I was absolutely terrified. I was alone with my young daughter in a foreign country and genuinely felt threatened and unsafe. Thankfully, some women who were nearby came over to help and protect me and my daughter, and I’m incredibly grateful to them.

I understand that people joke about “sunbed wars” on holiday, but surely there is a line? I never expected something like this to happen over a sunbed, especially with a 4-year-old child involved.

So, AITA for using the sunbed, or was this family completely out of line for trying to physically remove my daughter and me and then attempting to attack me?

This is a confusing long story so please sit down and be prepared.

A little backstory I female 24 and my best friend 24 female, we will call her Kate, have been best friends for 10 years and treat each other like sisters growing up we spent days on end never leaving each other and as adults we still are just as close. But due to sadly having to be adults working and I have children we don’t get to see each other as much but remain just as close.

Now the story… Usually me and Kate always get our work schedules and find out what days we can meet up and do something together but anything childfree is difficult due to us both working opposite weekends. So when the chance finally strikes and we had the same weekend off work we decided to go out drinking. It was during planning where we was going to go when she mentioned a man she had been speaking to on Snapchat. Well you won’t believe it but the same man had tried messaging me multiple times so I showed her and I thought that was the end of it, it was not. I do not know why but I then received a message from said man asking me why I told my friend Kate which I told him “ it was a conversation with my friend and because it is the truth you tried messaging me”.

It gets to the weekend and we decide to go into town to meet my sister and her friends for our first drink and who do I see? The Snapchat man with his friend sat at the entrance staring at the door waiting for my friend. We then proceeded to follow my sister while he tried stopping Kate telling her who he was and general conversation. I shouted my friend to come with me and to the bar on the other level to get away from them which she proceeded to thank me for. Well we got to the bar ordered a drink and he followed us! I knew my friend was not interested and I did not want to stand around speaking to strangers so I asked Kate to come dance and we again left Snapchat man. After 2 drinks and a shot we left that club mainly because we wasn’t staying in one place all night but he kept watching us and tried coming to dance with us. Now we proceeded to see him in the other club but he did not come over and attempt to talk to us which was fine we ended up forgetting about it and enjoyed our night.

It was the next morning where things get crazy. I wake up get ready for work and see I’ve got lots of messages from Snapchat man. He has messaged me more than 15 times saying that I ruined his chance with my friend because she unfriended him, I am ugly and a bitch, telling me I failed at love and my attitude affects Kate and a lot more nasty comments blaming me over the situation. I instantly screenshotted and sent the messages to Kate and asked what had happened and why I was getting harassed by snapchat man to which she said she deleted him because he had messaged her nasty comments about me and demanding she turned her snap maps on so he could go meet her. Now I should of ignored him and deleted him but at that moment I thought I would just tell him he was directing his anger at the wrong person and I cannot do anything if my friend is not interested in dating him. To which he still carried on calling me names such as racist, a bitch, ugly and the list goes on and when I ignored him a bunch of fake accounts kept popping up to calling my appearance which I think is a coincidence. My friend is still saying she wasn’t interested to begin with so she doesn’t understand why snapchat man has acted like this and I’ve seen her messages to him saying I had no influence in her decision but now he is threatening to post my pictures in facebook groups stating i am a racist when i never mentioned any race, religion, skin colour, countries only that Kate was interested in him as a person and to leave us both alone to which he both deleted him.

So aita for stopping my friend find love?