to be narked at this old lady?

[fanjoforthemammaries7850]

was on the bus with DD and DH. Bus was half empty.DD and DH were in buggy space. I sat behind them,mindful that I was in priority seat for elderly/disabled,but there were 4 others and i'd move if required (DD has SN so i hope I'm sensitive to such things).↲ An old lady got on. There was a clear seat beside me. She didn't sit on but stood there looking at me as if I were vermin and said 'these seats were meant for us.' I said 'well there's a seat there and if anyone needs this one I'll give them it.' then i couldn't help it and said 'they are priority seats,not noone else can ever sit there seats'.↲anyway,i just feel a bit mean,was i harsh?DH thinks she was just looking for a fight. There was an empty seat for her beside me. Was IBU?

" Eventually she could contain herself no longer and told me I was a wicked and selfish person for taking up an "old person's seat"."

This is sounding just like a P&T parking spaces thread

rofl @ do you have a tapeworm

'Old person seat' will be the new 'P&T parking', for sure!

YANBU. My sister was once the only person on a bus, and had loads of carrier bags on the seat beside her. A lady got on and stared pointedly at Sis until she moved all her bags and let the lady sit down. The bus was EMPTY. Some people are just weird.

Why don't they put "old person seat" on them instead I wonder?

I once knew a 94 year old lady who still got really offended if someone offered her a seat on the bus, as it meant she was old!

YANBU

Someone ought to write a book on Bus Etiquette - t'will make a bloody fortune

maybe I will...like a misery memoir....

"my traumatising bus experience"

Personally I think all pensioners should be made to stand as they're usually getting on the bus for free. Leave the seats for those of us who are paying

Seriously though, it shouldn't be about age it should be about needs. I've seen many people in their 70s out hill walking, fit as fiddles - certainly fitter than me anyway as they went zooming past. I can't see why they would require priority seating on a bus.

Well done you, shes a sad sad old bitch.

Oh dear MN is entering it's 'I hate old people' phase again.

I can't wait to be old and despised.

I personally don't hate old people...I didn't like THAT particular old person, as she was rude to me.

However, I have to say, working as a receptionist, our nicest patients by FAR are old men, and most old ladies are pretty nice too.

fanjo - I wasn't referring to your OP particularly. She was a little daft. But a lot of bandwagon athletics going on here on the theme of how rude and horrible old people are. It does seem to be a recurring MN theme.

Oh, I didn't mean to add fuel to that then.

There are some rude old people around, and of course plenty of rude younger people.

I think SOME elderly people are just a bit more forthcoming with their opinions to strangers, is all.

I haven't come across this on the bus yet. I did have a rude old lady encounter in the bank once but that is another story.

My bus experience has been good with old people. I had to get on the bus the other day which was an old one with steps and no space for the buggy. One old man came off the bus to help me with the buggy whilst I calmed down my hysterical baby (nap was interupted) and then ALL the old people on the bus were saying how "these buses should be banned!" "that poor woman struggling" and "poor baby"

At my stop another old lady sat with bubs whilst i got the buggy off the bus. nice nice people.

This was such a change from a previous journey when I stepped on the bus I was greeted with dirty looks from a young mum who said "look at her thinking she is getting on here with another buggy" What a bitch!

sorry epic waffle! YANBU

I think the rude old woman was very likely a rude young woman in her time.

I think the main point in the thread is that old(er) people should not see priority seating as some kind of theatre reservation and other people are allowed to sit in them -particularly when there are other priority seats available.

I suffer from panic attacks when in crowded, enclosed spaces and need to sit as close as possible to the door on the bus. Quite often this is the priority seats but I would only use them if other priority seats were available and would move if necessary - even if that means me standing next to the driver, doing breathing exercises and chanting a mantra! Quite embarrassing but its either that or get off the bus which isnt always practical

YANBU - some old people in this country have a massive sense of entitlement. They will destroy it. Been in the same situation many times. I always give up my seat to an old or disabled person and I travel on buses a lot but demanding that no one can sit in 'their' seats just narks me.

The other thing that narks me is the putting a bag on the seat next to them to stop my DSs sitting there. It does not stop me though. I just threaten to sit on their bag and it soon shifts them.

My most spectacular public meltdown was on a bus was with a group of 4 old people who had put their cases in the space where a pushchair can go. They just sat there looking at me so I picked up their cases and pitched them across the bus as I desperatley held the pushchair with DS2 in it with the other on a bus cornering at speed. Of course then it kicked off with the usual 'I fought in the war and paid my National Insurance for people like you!'.

I am afraid I saw red and suggested that if fighting in the war meant a country dominated by ignorant selfish old people like them then I would rather be....etc, etc.

DW hid at the back of the bus as I invited comments from the rest of the passengers. DS kept asking in a loud voice "Mummy why is Daddy shouting at the old people?"

Well I think most elderly people I meet are lovely, but I've never forgotten one horrid old woman who made me give her my seat on a bus 20 years ago! As a teenager, I had a long-term illness which made me very tired, but I didn't feel able to explain that. This old woman auled me up out of my seat, talking loudly to her friend about "young people today". I was mortified, and got off the bus at the next stop because I actually wasn't strong enough to stand up on a moving bus. I spent the next half hour sitting weakly on the pavement feeling really tearful. Wish I had stood up to her really.

i once gave up my seat for an older lady (maybe 70-odds) who had a couple of bags of shopping - even though i was about 5 months pregnant with DS1 but didn't have a very big bump - She said thank you and then put her bloody shopping on the seat and stood beside it.
She wasn't ammused when i lifted the shopping back off the seat and sat down again.