People on their own sitting at a table on a train

[Theelephantinthecastle]

Can anyone explain why they do this?

Just got on a train with my two kids - we joined a lady on her own at a table, she looks daggers at me. I realise it's not fun sharing a table with two young kids but why then sit at a table on your own? You are so much more likely to be joined by a family group! When I am on my own, I always prefer an airline style seat as I am much less likely to be joined by a family.

Is it just the triumph of optimism?

My (invisible) back injury hurts less at a table seat than the airline style seats.

But I do try to sit with another couple or singleton.

I might inwardly groan if small children (or drunk people) joined. I would outwardly groan if the small children were noisy

Ok. It's a bad bad thing that I do because I am a bad person when I move to let a family sit together

Just develop a thicker skin op. Trains are usually busy and crowded and everyone is subjected to other people encroaching into their personal space. If the lady hates it that much she should go first class.

I like that people do this. I used to often be in a 3, so getting on, all the tables busy, but there's always a few with just one person, kind of placeholders, if you will - and we always joined them.
If I had the time and inclination, I would choose the table where the person had made the most effort to deter people, so coats and bags on the empty seats.
We're not a disruptive noisy family, we just like to be together rather than split in airline seats.

She maybe booked it for the charger. I do that if it's a long (5 hour) train journey. Maybe she was working.

You see a single person as a "placeholder" for your family's use?

How do you fit laptop on airline table?

I, mother of 2, always find it weird when parents make a beeline for tables thinking that their tiny humans have the right to more space. It’s much easier for two kids plus all their stuff to fit into seat with airline table than a grown adult with a laptop.

What a thing to get agitated and start a thread about 🙄

She has just as much right to a table seat as you have to be able to sit next to her as a family.

Be respectful of her space and things should be fine.

You’ve already mentioned your kids are feral so if she’s on a loudspeaker call and could only hear the other person better that way, perhaps it’s because your DC are being louder than they/you thought.

I’m a PA and often am requested to book table seats for people travelling together, working and talking. But as in today’s case where I booked a journey up north it was on an early train, so unlikely parents with DC would travel then both for cost and time reasons.

You need to get over yourself Obl. Every single post I see from you you’re spewing aggression at the OP for no reason and, as always, you’ve not even understood OPs post properly.

OP didn’t say families have more rights or single people should never get to sit at tables. She’s asking why they huff and puff and get the strop on when other people dare use the space they’re entitled to use.

Yet you and others are jumping in to be OUTRAGED for no reason other than your own lacking comprehension skills.

You can at a squeeze if it’s a small laptop but it can be really hard to actually do some work on it.

I always aim for the airline-style seats but they are really limited on my local train; the set up is two seats - aisle - two seats and only every other carriage has it. Unless I'm heading into the city centre at 8am on a Saturday, the airline seats are like gold dust.

Whenever I've booked to travel to London (pretty much a 5 hour journey - I do NOT want to play footsie with a stranger for that long!), I've generally been given a seat at a table regardless of the preferences I indicated during booking.

Amen! All these people giving the reasons why but then saying they don't mind others joining. That's not the point!! Lol.

I think unless you’re there in the train with OP, how do you know how her fellow traveller is behaving? She might be over emphasising the huffing and puffing and getting a strop on.

Most people I’ve encountered in this scenario might be a bit peeved if others (family with kids) were to join their table if they’re trying to work, but the vast majority would move, might be slightly irritated but not do as OP’s saying.

This really gets my goat up. We were traveling back from holiday once I moved over to a table with my son. Let me aunt know there was a table she had my daughter on another two seats. A bloke comes and sits accross from us. I said sorry but there's four of us. My children have special needs if I was traveling alone with and we couldn't get a table I would have to squeeze the 3 of us onto two seats. I wouldn't even sit on one if there's just the two of us. Selfish fuckers comes to mind.

What a fucking stupid question.

As long as your children were well behaved and relatively quiet there was no need for her to throw you daggers.

however your definition of relatively quiet will be different to a childless person.

Definitely. If a train is busy, there should be a person in every seat. Also quite happy for one person to join us if we are there first.

Because she’s explained how shes behaving. OP said she huffed and is giving her dirty looks. Another one of those people couldn’t possibly be acting like that poster? Some people act like this, I’m not sure what the point of playing devils advocate or denying this is.

Why be peeved when you’ve chosen to sit at a SHARED area though. That’s the point op is trying to make, it’s not “thier” table it’s a table for 4 people. 1 person is using it and if a group of 3 people, children or not, want to use it, they can. A train isn’t a private work area so suck it up.

Snap. I like to sit at a table but have no problem with others joining

Oh I know, it's almost as if they expected to be treated like full human beings instead of some weird subspecies.

Yanbu. There is a definitely a section of passengers who think because they are working on the train they have the right to take up the whole table with their laptop and paperwork and that they shouldn't have to share this table with anyone. If anyone dares to sit at their table they huff and puff and make a big show of moving their laptops over a few millimetres.

I have a pissed off face because I'm in pain.

I don't have a sign that says I'm disabled. Sorry about that and all

Or even worse, when they put their bag on the seat next to them

If someone travelling alone sat down at the table with you and your kids, would you think that ok? I bet you wouldn’t. It drives me nuts that people think they can sit down at my table anywhere, not just on trains, and it’s fine because I’m alone. It’s absolutely not.