While living in a tourist destination area is enjoyable and allows for social amenities that quieter locations do not offer, there can be issues with tourists during the busy season.
Quite frankly, tourists can act incredibly entitled, cringed the “Am I the A**hole?” (AITA) subReddit.
Even knowing this, however, Redditor aita123098765 was surprised when a literal busload of women showed up on his property to peruse his home, which was a protected landmark.
When they refused to leave, the Original Poster (OP) wondered if he was somehow asking too much.
He asked the sub:
“AITA for turning away a busload of grannies?”
The OP lived in a tourist destination area.
“My wife and I (34 Male) live in a lovely old farmhouse (dated as far back as 1624) at the edge of our village.”
“Our entire street/neighborhood consists of the same kind of farmhouses, and most of them (including ours) are protected landmarks.”
“This part of the village is quite lovely with all the thatched-roof farmhouses dotted around with meadows in-between.”
“So naturally, tourists love it (we are not in the US). There are numerous hiking and cycling routes going past our home.”
“I think I’ve ended up in a lot of families’ vacation photo albums while working in the garden. But that’s okay, it’s what you can expect when buying such a property.”
But that didn’t mean his home was open to visitors.
“Yesterday I heard our dog barking and she wouldn’t stop, so I went to check it out.”
“I found a literal busload of elderly (around the age of 70) walking all over our garden and looking in through an open door.”
“I was quite surprised, so I asked if I could help them.”
“One said, ‘Oh no, we’re just looking about.'”
“It turned out it was some kind of group outing that had lunch in the restaurant nearby and were taking a stroll before moving on with the bus.”
“So I told them this was private property and asked them to leave.”
The women resisted the OP’s demands.
“To which they responded, ‘But there is no access forbidden sign!'”
“So I asked her if she had such a sign on her driveway? Of course, the answer was no.”
“For clarity, I live in north-western Europe, and access forbidden signs on domestic properties are really uncommon, especially when you’re within a town, and basically say, ‘I’m a hermit and don’t like social interaction.'”
“To make matters worse, while I was trying to herd the people from my property, a woman from the group came up the driveway and tripped on a wire we have across the driveway to keep the dog on our property.”
“She had a wound on her chin, so I took her inside to get cleaned up and put a bandaid on the wound.”
The OP didn’t think he was in the wrong.
“When I walked her out, about 10 minutes later or so, they were still muttering about how inhospitable I was, etc.”
“I don’t think it’s weird to turn away strangers walking through your garden, but a busload of grannies seem to think otherwise.”
“AITA?”
Fellow Redditors weighed in:
- NTA: Not the A**hole
- YTA: You’re the A**hole
- ESH: Everybody Sucks Here
- NAH: No A**holes Here
Some thought the OP was perfectly within his rights as a property owner.
“NTA. they had no right to be on your property or refuse to leave when asked. You did more than you were obliged to in cleaning up the wound.” – StealthPhoenix88
“As someone who grew up on a lovely scenic farm and has experienced similar situations: they can get the f**k out.”
“Of course you’re NTA. In fact, you were very kind when you helped one of the intrusive buttholes patch up their boo-boo after going off-road in your garden.” – Majestic-Seesaw9362
“How about putting up a small ‘private property’ sign in a style that fits the house/property? That way you can at least refer to it if something similar happens in the future.”
“You’re NTA, people tend to get huffy and defensive when they’re embarrassed. I doubt none of these grannies were left with any lasting effects.” – ruyay
“No Trespassing, Friends and Photos Welcome.”
“OP doesn’t seem to mind the photos. They mostly just sound upset about people literally stomping all through their property uninvited.”
“People will be more inclined to obey a no trespassing sign if they’re told the other stuff they want to do (like taking pictures) is welcome.” – The_Random_Username
“Can you talk with some of your neighbors and ask what they think? A sign may not have a friendly ‘vibe’, but tourons who trespass on your property can do a lot of damage to your landscaping. (Touron is a portmanteau of tourist+moron.)”
“Can you call/write a letter to the tour operator and ask them to let them know their clients are trespassing on private property and that they need to warn them off?”
“NTA by the way. I hope you find a solution that works for you.” – MorriganNiConn
Others agreed and couldn’t believe how entitled the women were.
“But it looks quaint! Obviously, it’s a heritage park where tourists get to wander through the houses! OP is obviously a cultural interpreter. I mean, no one resides in such a quaint place, right?” – MariaInconnu
“If I see a house, I’m not gonna assume I have the right to step onto the property and closely investigate it. That’s creepy. If I see a house I assume I can’t go there, because the vast majority of houses are privately owned.” – lordmwahaha
“Little does OP know, these weren’t your run-of-the-mill grannies. The lead granny was actually Danny Ocean’s mom and they were casing the joint in order to return later and perform a heist where each granny has a specific skill set needed for the job.” – Mac1692
“It should really be obvious though, people know not to go into private gardens. But I guess if you’re on a tourist tour, there’s a bit of a disconnect from normal social routines already so people don’t act like they would on their own. And groups are pretty stupid generally.” – dyllandor
“NTA.”
“Good grief, the entitlement. That’s your property! It’s not a national heritage site for people to explore.”
“I live rurally in England. My house is in a field that backs into the woods.”
“A few people have f**ked up by walking round the farmers’ field, thinking they can get into the woods (you can’t, there’s a huge dyke that, unless you’re an Olympic athlete, you ain’t jumping) and end up pushing through the hedge and onto my drive.”
“I’m relatively polite and point out this is private property and they need to move off. Most apologize and run along.”
“You get the odd one who gets a**holeish about trespass laws, etc., until I point to the giant PRIVATE PROPERTY; TRESPASSERS WILL BE PROSECUTED sign and ask if the police should handle this instead.” – saysaywhat91
“I live on a quiet residential street with a historically significant church and all of the houses (mine included) boast architectural features that are unique to our area.”
“Every. Single. Day. during the months when there is no snow, we get groups of between 10 and 20 people on walking tours who traipse up the steps of our home, take pictures in our postage stamp front garden, and even tell me to stop gardening or sitting on my porch because I’m ruining their pictures by being in my own yard.”
“Or when they start yelling at me because my big, black herpaderp of a GSD (German Shepherd) starts barking maniacally at them, trying to open windows, so they can look inside because the blinds are down.”
“I don’t understand why our street is so popular because it isn’t even the nicest one in the neighborhood. One street over is the old mayor’s mansion and some stunning Victorian homes that sit around a park that can be described as an oasis.”
“I have no problem with them enjoying the beauty of our neighborhood and actually think it’s amazing that I get to live in a place that people admire so much. (We aren’t rich, far from it in fact. Nobody on our street could be considered more than the middle class.)”
“And when people take the time to ask me if they can take pictures or ask about the house/street, etc., I love accommodating them.”
“It’s the people like these grannies that OP describes that makes me resentful.” – jennmullen37
The subReddit didn’t think the OP was wrong at all to expect the women to leave his property, far from it, in fact.
Rather, they encouraged him to do something that would discourage future “invasions” of this kind, such as hanging a sign or installing a different type of gate that would prevent entry.
But at the very least, they encouraged the OP to not doubt himself and to remember that this was his property and home. If he did not want strangers on his property, or even people that he knew, he was perfectly within his rights.