A woman has sparked a fierce parenting debate online after she revealed a stranger’s kid stained her $200 jacket while she was out to eat.
Julia Austin, 36, from Los Angeles, California, was enjoying a meal in a local restaurant earlier this month when she noticed two kids ‘playing with bottles of juice’ at the table next to her.
Suddenly, one kid let go of the juice and it spilled all over her $200 suede jacket.
But when she posted a rant about it on TikTok, claiming that she felt like the child’s mother should have offered to pay for her messed-up coat, it lead to a massive argument between viewers.
‘I was in a restaurant recently and the table next to me was a family with two little kids, and the kids had these bottles of juice that they were playing with,’ she said in the now-viral video.
‘Like, oh good, juice should definitely be a toy, this will turn out well. Lo and behold, eventually one of the kids [let go] and spilled the juice all over my $200 suede jacket.’
She said a server ‘rushed over’ and was helping them clean up the table when she noticed Julia drying the jacket.
‘[The server] goes, “Do you need something for your jacket?” And then the mom of the kid who did this said, “Oh her jacket’s fine,”‘ recalled Julia.
Julia Austin, 36, from Los Angeles, California, sparked a fierce parenting debate online after she revealed a stranger’s kid stained her $200 jacket while she was out to eat
She was enjoying a meal in a local restaurant earlier this month when she a kid at a table next o her spilled juice all over her coat (stock image)
‘I’m glad that you’ve decided for me that my jacket’s fine,’ she sarcastically stated.
‘I feel like parents get to a place where they’re so accustomed to the idea that they can’t have nice things because all their stuff is wrecked but you can’t project that sensibility onto people around you, OK?
‘The rest of us, we still feel that property damage means something. Does anyone else think that this woman should have offered to pay for this?’
Julia’s video divided the web, with some users in the comment section taking her side and agreeing that the mom should have done more to fix the situation and others claiming that Julia shouldn’t expect anything from the woman.
‘Parents take that “it takes a village” mentality way too far. If your child can’t behave properly in public, you shouldn’t take the child out in public,’ wrote one user.
‘She should have paid. She’s responsible for her kids, mistakes happen but it was a preventable mistake,’ added another.
‘Hot take: parents are lazy these days and don’t want to discipline their kids anymore. I see it all the time working as a server and hairstylist,’ someone else penned.
‘I wouldn’t expect an adult stranger to pay to fix my jacket to be honest,’ a fourth comment read.
When she posted a rant about it on TikTok, claiming that she felt like the child’s mother should have offered to pay for her messed-up coat, it lead to a massive argument between viewers
A fifth said, ‘Considering the fact that you saw it coming and didn’t do anything to protect your jacket, you are partially at fault.
‘If I’m wearing something and I see my kid has a messy mouth, I’m being smart and removing myself. Not waiting to have something to pout about’
While discussing the internet’s reaction to the video, Julia told the Daily Mail that as someone who often posts controversial content online, she was ‘not surprised.’
‘I’m a comedian who posts content online every day so I am used to experiencing everything from extreme hate to support,’ she explained.
‘I will say some of the more surprising comments I got were stating that it was my fault because I did not speak up when I noticed the child playing with the juice.
‘To that I would say, have you ever tried to tell someone how to parent their child? Usually doesn’t go very well.’
She explained that while she was ‘bummed’ that her jacket got messed up, she ‘understood it was an accident.’
‘I wasn’t actually angry until I saw that the parents just dismissed what happened,’ she added.
She also vowed that even if the mom had offered to pay, she wouldn’t have actually allowed her to give her any money.
‘It was more the principle of the matter that they should’ve offered or at least acknowledged that they were responsible,’ she stated.
Julia ultimately had the jacket dry cleaned and said it luckily looks ‘pretty much’ fine now.
‘I just hope the parents try to remember that, even if they embrace the mess and chaos of having kids not everyone around them has chosen that,’ she concluded.
‘So when you take kids to public settings, that is something to be mindful of.’
