MIGrandma said:
Why should I comment on her sitting at the table when I've already expressed my opinion on that, several times in fact?
No, I didn't "fail to address" that I only had SEATS saved and not the TABLE. If my grandchildren had saved SEATS then their backpacks, drinks would be ON THE SEATS. They were ON THE TABLE, thus MY OPINION that the TABLE was saved, which I also have said several times.
There, did I make it clear enough for you?
And that is where the misunderstanding comes in. Although it was your opinion that the entire table was saved, the unwritten "saving" rule is that every seat needs to be individually saved and there has to be at least one butt in a seat." Thus the lady sitting at your table was just following unwritten protocol at school, kid and other open seating functions.
If you had somebody sitting at the table, then the lady would have been able to say "excuse me, but are these seats available?" And your person could have replied "no, my family is sitting here." The lady most likely would have moved on.
Since there was nobody to ask and there was only a backpack and a drink on the table, that only indicates that one or two people are occupying the table.
Thus, the lady sitting at your table did absolutely nothing wrong as she was occupying empty seats and there was nobody at the table for her to ask if all the seats were saved.
Now that you know, next concert, just make sure there is somebody sitting at the table to hold the seats. Although, you may still get people sitting there as saving 9 other seats is considered rather rude when the party is not there yet. It is the same principle that restaurants have; even if you have a reservation, they will not seat you until the entire party is present.
However, if you have a prime table, such as one in front of the stage, if there are no butts in seats within a reasonable start time of the function, all bets are off. No saving. They are open for anybody to sit.
Also, next time, if you want to save an entire table without problems, make sure you choose one in the back. That way, you can ensure that the table is not highly desired by others and you won't have any problems with people sitting there.