Feel absolutely awful after encounter on train

I was referring to flip down table tops

Like i said earlier, i was referring to uk trains, but if you sit at a table, you gotta share

I would have done the same as you.

I am in perimenopause and struggle with daily nausea, any strong smell makes it worse. A few months ago my elderly mum was discharged from hospital and we had a lady from the care agency come to the house to assess. She too was a larger woman and she had a very particular smell which really set off my nausea, I had to keep making excuses and popping outside for a breath of fresh air. After she had left we had to open the window and spray air freshener.

If she had been sat near me on public transport I would have definitely moved.

I find her comments fairly accurate as evidence by the OPs descriptions...someone with breathing difficulties sat opposite her and she sprayed perfume...so OP actually had the harmful smells and in mentioning the ladies weight in her post ..she was THE definition of body shaming as that detail is inconsequential.

Oh and harmed people can be angry, that's often the reaction to injustice and discrimination.

I think the lady knew very clearly what was happening and called it out

Yes, but working on a tray or your lap is a terrible musculo-skeletal risk.

Plugs are in other seats

The majority of seats on Irish trains are arranged in groups of 4 around a table. It is not at all realistic for solo travellers to avoid those seats. Seat booking is available on most inter-city services.

@Anyahyacinth I'm not a fan of heavy perfume but it's got to be better than BO and poo!

And let's face it, this wasn't pitiful sad embarrassed woman, struggling with inexplicable humiliating embarrassing obesity. This was a stroppy feisty woman prepared to tackle a stranger who dared to move seats. She had no idea why OP moved. Maybe OP was ill, needed the toilet, had health issues of her own, was recently bereaved and about to cry - anything really. And the woman chose to accuse and insult her. She chose to pick a fight. No one is saying she shouldn't travel, but does she have to insult people?

I’d love to know what the weight , girth , sweating huffing and dribbling had to do with this non event ?

Sounds like possible mental health problems in her side, tbh I think you were fine and probably would have done the same in that situation. No swear words or nasty comments just the same with the thought maybe she isn't mentally well :)

But that would suggest it’s not your usual constant smell and that’s why you notice it. The point about nose blindness is that if people smell bad all or most of the time, say if they shower less often or have a problem that means the smell returns a short time after showering, they stop detecting it. It doesn’t sound like you come into that category.

She’s probably got mental health problems. I wouldn’t worry.

If there’s plenty of space, I always move on a bus or train if someone is sitting too close to me. Especially if they’ve got a cold 🤢

The embarrassment is not yours. She was the one swearing being rude.
At the point when she asked you where are you going I would have just pretended not to hear her. You don't owe her an explanation. Don't feel bad about it.

What an odd comment. You realise not everywhere is London? I live in Scotland. Some lines up north have an hour or more between stops.

1) if a more average sized person sat in front of me hugging and puffing like that I would have been really concerned and asked if she needed help, if she was having some sort of attack or something,

She had an inhaler, so she has a medical condition which you have no clue whether is solely down to her weight or not.

dribbling on a shared table

There is no way you would have been bothered by this had it been a thin person. I also guarantee that she just spilled water on the table, which is no big deal and happens on trains all the time – regardless of someone's weight.

I am not a ‘body shaming bitch’

Well considering 90% of your post is about her body and not the smell, which is the actual point, then it's rather clear that you are.

Your description of her in your original post does sound unkind, and like you may have a problem with people with fat bodies tbh

Someone sat opposite you was struggling to breathe, took their inhaler and you sprayed perfume?

So you are fairly equal in assaulting one another with smells. You have no idea why this lady is large...but surely you can see she may need to travel occasionally? Or would you rather she is shut away?

There are people that stink and people that stink.

I rate myself pretty tolerant of this sort of stuff and can normally tolerate it. But I worked with someone for a short period recently who smelt indescribably bad. I can't even think of an analog. I don't know how they managed to create the smell, but not washing for weeks and weeks maybe.

If I ended up sitting next to someone like that for any extended period I would have to either leave or throw up, there wouldn't be any other options.

So I guess it depends on how bad the stench was.