About not moving on the train?

Even worse, they expect strangers to mollycoddle their children as well.

YANBU.
Can you develop a fuck off glare and start using it?

@lieselotte I totally agree. One of the guys did offer and put it up there, but then she wanted something out of it (so he got it down again) and said she didn't want it put back up there because 'someone might take it'. That was when it all started getting a bit silly and then the conductor arrived so we let him take charge.

@NeedWineNow why didn't someone just offer to put it up on the overhead rack for her?

When people have been hogging seats with luggage and claim they can't put it on the overhead rack, I either do it for them, or get one of the big strong men hiding behind their screens to do it

Sometimes they whinge and say they won't be able to get it down again but that isn't my problem. I just tell them to ask someone to help.

Seats are for bottoms, overhead racks for luggage.

But it is wrong. Nobody has ever failed a test for taking their foot off the gas to slow down, unless they didn't slow down enough/went up the back of someone!

I think people might be confusing coasting and not braking. A few weeks after I passed my test I decided to coast down a hill. That is, taking the car out of gear and coasting down. Oh dear. Not funny. I never did it again! You have zero control!

The sense of entitlement that some people have nowadays staggers me. I was coming home from work one night and was sat in a 4 with a table by the window. I got on at the terminal so we had about 15 mins until the train departed but the train was already very busy. The two seats opposite were taken and a woman came to sit in the spare seat next to me. She had a holdall and faffed around, put it on the table taking up a lot of the space, then put it on the floor, then audibly huffed and puffed and tried ineffectually to put it on the overhead shelf all the while glaring at those of us who were seated.

She then announced that one of us would have to move so that she could put her bag on a seat. A Mexican standoff ensued with all of us holding firm and her insisting on a seat for her holdall. Suggestions that she stand up and put her bag on her seat were met with the predictable response.

it was all getting quite entertaining when the conductor turned up and told her seats were not for luggage and she'd have to put it in the luggage rack at the end of the carriage if it couldn't be accommodated elsewhere. She got off still swearing.

I wouldn't have moved in any situation. Shouldn't have 3 kids if she can't manage them. The child could have sat on her lap.
You're definitely in the right and don't think otherwise.
@ShakespearesBlister
😅🤣😂

But under 5s travelling for free have no entitlement to a seat if a paying passenger is standing. That is written into the conditions of travel.

A far cry from the days when my grandparents used to transport a family of six in a classic Mini.

I say it but I’m definitely guilty of doing it😂 my instructor would always tell me off - “your brake lights aren’t going to come on so how do they know you’re stopping!”

When did you last hear about a child being injured because they were standing on public transport?

Yep, it rarely if ever happens. Kids are very accident prone and I see them getting minor knocks and falls all the time and they rarely end up with the same injuries as an older adult. And if they’re that tiny they can usually be carried by an adult whether the adult is standing or sitting .

I used to travel with small groups of children in a previous job and even on the risk assessments that wasn’t a major concern. I was travelling back to London from somewhere once and we got on the tube and two lovely adults offered two of the kids I was with their seats because they were flopping about the place in the aisle (being silly /having fun really) . I was quite surprised as didn’t know standing up for 7 year old was a thing. They quickly sat down and then promptly started jumping on and off the seats, I thanked the adults but said to the kids look please just stand and let the adults have their seats back since you’re not even using them properly!

Honestly a lot of kids quite enjoy standing up and if they are with siblings/friends can amuse themselves with the rocking of the train. I’m sure one of the ten year old boys wouldn’t even have minded standing for a while and then swapping seats. Most kids have so much energy, especially ones who play football.

To be clear, the woman was still on the train and it was absolutely her seat I was in. We'd looked at each others reservations.

I had one of these today!

I'm in a leg brace and needed to be sitting in an aisle seat, with my right leg on the outside. I'd made a mistake with my booking and a lovely woman agreed to switch seats with me (they were basically the same but opposite sides of the carriage). A fam of four came on and tried to tell me I was in their reserved seats. Erm, no I'm not. Then the usual gobbing off. Daddy dearest looked a bit of a twat when I started pushing myself up on my crutches. I had zero intention of giving up my seat, they were welcome to the other three though.

Aren't you? The rest of us are allowed to fucking swear as much as we buggering well like.

I'd go for a Kanken Mini. After all, she has a shoulder injury. You can fit quite a bit in one.

How big are you imagining this backpack to be?

@TrainSitu
First served, not serve. Per se, not per say.

Don't move under any circumstances, shoulder injury or not, however I WOULD have an issue with your backpack being on the table. It should go on the floor between your feet so there is room for each person to have 1/4 of the table space for drink, book or laptop etc.

You're not being unreasonable at all. If she lives in a crowded place having three children in the first place was not her best thought.

Not at all unreasonable, shoulder or not. If she felt that bad about her kids, and needed another seat, she herself could have stood and given the seat to the children knowing they were all safely seated.
I think that’s what I’d have done in her situation, not asked you to stand.
I liked your response though 😺

Why do people think their children are so precious that they should trump adults, and that we should just blindly go along with that? I don't get it.

WHenever I was in a situation like that I would let my DD sit on my lap and once she was too big to do that she would stand or I would stand and let her sit.

When I learnt to drive (many years ago!) I was taught to engine brake changing down through the gears. Current thinking is brakes are cheaper to replace than clutches and gearboxes which makes a lot of sense so now I just use the brakes and engage the gear needed to accelerate away. Coasting is poor driving practice causing excessive wear on the clutch thrust bearing and leaves the driver open to a 'Driver not in complete control of the vehicle offense'

YANBU she can fuck right off

@GonnaGetGoingReturns absolutely! But in this case I think the mother is at fault the most! I would’ve said something like “at my age your kids could’ve been my grandkids, so I’ll remain seated thank you”.

Ahh it seems so obvious when you say it!