Originally founded in 1906 by Milton Hershey as a leisure park for his chocolate factory workers, Hersheypark is now a 121-acre family theme park in Hershey, Pennsylvania. The 120-year-old park features more than 70 rides for all age levels, including 15 roller coasters, as well as an 11-acre water park and the adjacent ZooAmerica North American Wildlife Park.
Hersheypark is often praised as clean and well-maintained, with many guest reviews reporting spotless grounds and clean restrooms even on crowded days. A dedicated cleaning and custodial team maintains paths, dining areas, and restrooms throughout operating hours.
So if you saw someone littering or vandalizing the park in a fenced-off area, would you notify a park employee?
A recent park visitor turned to the "Am I The A**hole" (AITA) subReddit for feedback.
Beatlemania_713 asked:
"AITA for 'ruining' a kid's day at Hersheypark?"
The original poster (OP) explained:
"Today my family and I went to Hersheypark to enjoy some rides. We stopped to eat around 1:30 pm near the barbecue restaurant that is in the park."
"The seating area is right next to a small creek that runs through the park. After we had sat down to eat our food, my son (3) was walking around looking at the ducks."
"We never gave anything to the ducks because there are signs everywhere saying not to feed the animals. My child was just following them around because he's 3 and they're animals."
"Two young boys at the table behind us were eating, and I happened to see the older of the two, about 11, and the younger brother was maybe 8, accidentally drop his order of ribs. He then proceeded to pick it up and throw it in the creek next to us (in a spot clearly marked with 'don't feed the animals' signs), making the ducks, geese, and fish all go after it, thinking they were being fed."
"I immediately pointed it out to my group and went to tell a park employee nearby who was sweeping the food area. The park is very clean and they work hard to keep it that way.
"I was eating with my family and the kids were actually by themselves, their guardian was somewhere else. If the parents or any adults were around, I'd have told them first so they could fix it before letting the park know."
"Plus I have no idea what a whole order of ribs is going to do to the animals or the water. Some spices and seasonings aren't good for them and rotting meat probably isn't great either. I just told the employee cleaning in the area so they could have it removed."
"I wasn't comfortable climbing over or through the fence that protects the landscaping and creek to retrieve the kid's trash myself, nor would I tell two kids sitting by themselves to do it."
"When the employee came up to the table before the grandmother came back, the kids looked at me and went 'why do you care, you're a grown man'."
"A few moments later, the children's grandmother comes back to their table, and the boys tell her what happened."
"If the grandmother was in the immediate area when it happened, she would have been told first. But she wasn't around for at least 5 minutes. I didn't even know if they had an adult in the area with them honestly."
"I know they weren't purposely feeding the ducks. When I was 11, I'd throw away food I dropped, not just chuck it off into the nearest body of water. The trash cans were just as far from them as the water was."
"She turns to us and tries defending him, saying, 'he dropped it, and it got debris on it, and so he...' I interrupted to point out he chose to walk 10 feet to the stream when the trash cans were literally 10 feet the other direction and that it's about respect for the park."
"She then said 'he's just a child' as if that's a wiped clean slate for all actions. I politely told her that children that do that will turn into adults that do that."
"I wasn't doing anything for attention. Did other people see, and was she embarrassed? Probably. But that's OK, sometimes people can do things because it's right, not because they want attention. My concern was more with stuff being thrown in the water. How dare I want to keep a public area looking nice."
"They gathered their things and left a couple minutes later with the grandmother saying (with a fully pissed off smile) 'thanks for ruining our day'."
"My mom actually told the lady 'No problem!' afterward."
"I have no idea if they ended up getting kicked out. I had only told a person sweeping, and I never saw another employee come up. I think the grandmother was more upset that someone called out her grandson. I'd probably be mad at my grandchildren if they threw 20 dollars' worth of ribs into the water."
"Was it wrong of me to point it out?"
Redditors weighed in by declaring:
- NTA - Not The A**hole
- YTA - You're The A**hole
- NAH - No A**holes Here
- ESH - Everyone Sucks Here
- INFO - more information needed
Redditors decided the OP was not the a**hole (NTA).
"NTA—they ruined their own day." ~ stairs-to-nowhere
"Yep. Accountability isn't someone else's fault." ~ cloverskisses
"Tell her: 'I didn’t, your grandson's behavior ruined your day'." ~ Jade_Amazon
"Yeah, if 'he's just a child' incapable of behaving appropriately or following posted signs, then he shouldn't have been left unsupervised. Where the hell was she is her grandkids can't be trusted alone?" ~ moodyinam
"She's mad at you instead of teaching her kid not to litter." ~ FunQuantity6074
"If that's all it takes to ruin someone's day, that's not on you! NTA." ~ tinyd71
"Spot on, because 'thanks for ruining our day' is classic weaponized guilt for getting caught being disrespectful or a general shite person. OP didn’t ruin their day, the kids' total lack of manners and grandma’s inability to supervise did." ~ violet_haven89
"And the proper reply would be 'Glad to be of help'." ~ SpiritedLettuce6900
"He is just a child, which is a great time for learning things like don't throw ribs at birds and fish at the park." ~ nocturnerose
"Yeah people love to complain about the lack of 'village'. But they just mean free babysitting."
"This kind of stuff, filling in the gaps when a kid does not know it’s not OK to throw ribs at waterfowl or dispose of trash in a creek, that’s being part of the village. Teaching them how to not be antisocial jacka**es."
"A lot of people seem to not want that part of the village. And it’s always the people whose kids could use it most. NTA for looking out for the village." ~ username__0000
"Oh lord, talk about teaching accountability. NTA, these kids know right from wrong, he probably didn't tell Grandma the truth because he knew he did something bad." ~ Mediocre-Distance-52
"Instead of getting mad at some stranger for telling the kid that what he did is not appropriate, why did Grandma not correct his behavior? If someone came up to me and told me my son did that, the first thing I would do is ask my son why the f*ck he would toss it in a creek, knowing a trash can is nearby."
"Grandma can be upset that some stranger corrected her grandkid, but if she had been doing the correcting, LIKE SHE SHOULD, the stranger probably would've moved on with their day. I swear people just let kids do whatever they want these days, and it's only a problem when the adult gets checked for letting it happen in the first place." ~ Mediocre-Distance-52
"NTA. Ribs aren't food for those birds; even grain isn't good for them. Lettuce, yes. You did the right thing." ~ Lunar-Eclipse0204
"It's ridiculous how people are raising their kids and grandkids these days. No one is teaching their kids to clean up after themselves appropriately or how to take accountability anymore. NTA, OP. " ~ Wandering_Gink0
"'You’re welcome' is the appropriate response. Their day was ruined by them being held accountable for their actions. Why she even felt the need to confront you is beyond me."
"She's been behaving this way all her life, no doubt taught her kids and now their kids to behave like her. Maybe if someone had held her to account before, her grandkids wouldn’t behave so badly." ~ External_Dark_3959
"NTA, if you hadn’t said it someone else would have. Who tries to defend littering or throwing trash into water or endangering animals in the 2026?"
"Those are literally people who let their kids get away with anything OP. Like you said, being a child isn’t a 'wipe the slate clean' excuse for everything."
"In my opinion, they’re lucky it was just another park goer and not someone who worked security for the park. You get in trouble at public places for that, so imagine how much more 'ruined' their day would have been if a park employee caught them throwing trash in the creek and without any adult supervision?" ~ Cadaverous_Cowboy
OP did what they thought was right under the circumstances. They didn't notify security or confront the children because no adult was with them.
Maybe their grandmother should reevaluate why their day was ruined.
