AIBU Re Train Seats

[ConnorCamden]

Last night one train, the one I normally get, didn't show. It was cancelled due to a fault. Myself and approximately 10 other people had to stand around for an hour until the next train. During this time, the platform got very very busy, as you can imagine (people waiting for the next train)

Finally the train arrives. I climb aboard and, like the 25 or so other people, tried to find a seat. I finally found a seat, but it meant politely asking an elderly gentleman to move up so that I can sit next to him. His response? "No. I was here first" I thought he was joking at first, so I smiled and waited for him to move. He said "What are you waiting for? I told you I'm not moving"

I ended up standing for the 1 hour journey.

AIBU to expect somebody to move up to make room for somebody? This was one of those 2 seats (like on a bus) and he was sitting on the seat nearest the aisle not the window.

I put my bag on the seat next to me IF there are plenty of other seats available. I always seem to attract sweaty mouthbreathers to the seat next to me so this is a deterrent. If someone made a beeline for that seat despite there being many other seats I would politely ask them what was wrong with the fifty squillion other seats.

damsel - I hear you! I think it's especially cheeky when you hear people saying 'excuse me, I asked for a seat by a table' and they point out the little fold-down thing is a 'table'.

I don't like to put my handbag on the floor but anything bigger needs to be in the rack or easily moved there, IMO. I'm afraid I would snigger at someone who 'wasn't happy' about moving their stuff.

OP, YABVVU. There was a space for you to sit, you chose not to sit in it. Why should the man move for you, except to tuck in his knees and let you in?

I once got really angry about this. I got on the train from Paris to Deauville at a time when there was the film festival in Deauville. There were loads of people with cases - and a young couple (I guess my age at the time so mid 20s) were taking up four seats with themselves and their two cases.

I asked them to move their cases so some people could sit down (ie me and a friend though I would have given up the seat to anyone else in need) and they refused.

So I stood my ground and once they had refused a couple of polite requests I raised my voice and got other people involved. In the end another passenger took their cases and moved them. Me and my friend sat down and got the evil eye right through the journey.

We smirked back. I remember it as one time when I was absolutely assertive and still feel ridiculously proud now :)

OP he sounds nasty and spoiling for a fight. I probably wouldn't have wanted to clamber over him and sit down either in case it got worse.

But otherwise I can't see the problem with just asking someone to budge up or move their bag. They always have done. I don't see the point of looking for offence when perhaps they're in a world of their own and haven't noticed me.

btw did anyone else look at the youtube clip of Keanu Reeves giving up his seat and wonder what kind of person films someone else minding their own business? That would be enough for me to drop my Zen attitude to public transport and confront the stalker.

Meh. More fool you if you didn't claim the free seat yourself instead of waiting for it to be handed to you. As for those of you who will stand rather than actually ask people to move bags, I've no sympathy.
Sure its nice when people act like nice normal humans and offer, but you have to stand up for yourself whne they don't.

Lesley33 why wouldn't you be happy with someone asking you to move your bags??? You'd seriously rather someone stood while your bags are sat in a seat that someone has actually paid for??? Fucking hell that's weird.

Lesley33 ignore my message. I re-read your message and spotted the bit about the spare seats. Sorry about that.

*Hammy02"

I know you restracted your first post above but people do not buy tickets for seats. Tickets are bought for the journey from A to B and that's it.

LRD I have twice been on trains where people have had their bags stolen because they were placed on the floor. It's a thriving cottage industry on some lines, including mine, apparently. :( I'm not tall enough to put my bag on the rack without standing on the seat. I can do that when travelling from PAddington, but not usually when travelling to Paddington (since the train doesn't start at our station and is usually pretty full when I get on, even at 6:45 in the morning, and my reserved seat is usually next to someone else. Who won't want me standing on their seat. So, I put my bag on the table. Which people might not like but, you know, tough.

For the person who sat in a reserved seat and refused to give it up for the person with the valid reservation - you were being very unreasonable. What a nasty thing to do.

That's awful.

Did they fall asleep or something? I admit, when I'm falling asleep I always hook my arm through my bags so no-one can nick them without me noticing. I think bags on the table are fine though aren't they?

I can't quite visualize the situation where you have more bags than will go on your lap/between your feet (ie., where they can't be stolen), yet too few to bother to stay awake and keep an eye on them, but it doesn't make stealing ok and I would probably be nervous too if it'd happened to me.

I rarely travel by train - usually only to my parents. When i travel therefore I always have my handbag and usually a bag full of wrapped presents. I don't want to leave the presents at the end of the carriage either to get nicked or more likely squashed/broken with other bags being put on top. If the train is busy it is impossible to see what is happening at the end of the carriage.

I can put them between my feet and do if the train is busy. But it is far less comfortable than having the free leg room. So if there is a seat next to me free I do but bags on.

And I am another one who can't reach the overhead luggage space without standing on seats. So always have to ask someone to put stuff up/get things down. But tbh I wouldn't put anything delicate up there anyway.

Old people can be that way, its harder for them to move and the hassle of pushing through can be a worry....I'd have just pushed past and maybe had a little mis-step with my high heel :o

No way would I stand for an hour.

Some people are just arses. YANBU

Someone once tried to bag a seat on the tube by throwing her paper shopping bag onto it at arms length despite the fact I was just about to sit down. I deliberately accidentally sat on her shopping, she tried to pull it away at the last minute and the carrier bag handles came away in her hand

thetasigmamum, do you mean me? When I carefully chose to sit in a seat marked 'not reserved' on a train on which, it turned out, no seats had been reserved?

This happens quite a lot. It is annoying for all concerned. The train company announces that reservations have not been made (usually citing a computer error) and that's it, there are no reserved seats.

If reservations had been made, I would of course have chosen to sit in one that was not reserved (as I did), or if none were available, taken my chances on a reserved one, as often the person doesn't appear but of course, if they had, I'd have moved.

There's nothing unreasonable or 'nasty' about any of that. Passengers are not psychic and train companies don't expect them to be. Train companies do often let their customers down.

I agree with you. In these circumstances the train company ime say that no reservations are applicable.

Thieving on trains is sad but true. I once lost most of my Christmas presents because, travelling home afterwards, I had them in a carrier bag (stupidly visible and unsecure - though nothing valuable, except to me), put the bag in the luggage rack and on departure, it was gone.

I have ended up sitting in the luggage rack before - another dilemma, does person or luggage take priority?! Probably luggage, as it takes up more floor space elsewhere.

Back to the OP, I realise I thought you'd meant the man wouldn't stand to let you into the other seat (very bad). Perhaps you meant he wouldn't move across (fine but you should then have asked him to let you into the other seat).

I do wish there were more staff about. On odd occasions when there have been loud drunken people making people, including with small children, feel very uncomfortable, or when real questions or problems have come up, it would be so reassuring to know someone was likely to appear.

LRD It's an 'intercity' route. There are places for bags between the seats which are back to back, IYSWIM. And the trains are often very full (grockles and Emmets (depending on their destination, and who is labelling them)). Apparently it's pretty easy to walk past and pick up a bag stowed between the seat backs. The first time this happened, it was to a friend of mine, and I was talking to her at the time, neither of us noticed. :( The next time it was someone in my carriage but further back. The luggage racks are rubbish on these trains even if you are tall enough to reach them (I'm not, my friend is). There is no space to have anything more than a tiny bag on your lap and you really wouldn't want to put a laptop case (for this is what it was) on the floor under the table because it would almost certainly be trampled on - there isn't room for four sets of legs and feet as it is!

First Great Western do not provide a service that could accurately be called great. Or indeed first.

lottiegb Yes I did mean you. You didn't have a reservation. The other woman did. In your original post you didn't say all reservations had been declared invalid, you implied there were reserved seats and you sat in one which appeared unreserved (after all, if there were no reserved seats how could you carefully choose one which appeared unreserved?). So maybe someone else had removed the ticket. I've known people sit in reserved seats, remove the ticket and then claim there never was one. It's a horrible thing to do. It's not the case that the train company is to blame, if a person refuses to leave a reserved seat when presented with a valid reservation for that seat then they are ill mannered, rude, selfish and nasty to boot. It's absolutely no trouble to book a seat reservation. If you can't be bothered to do so then don't take the seat of someone who could be bothered to make a valid reservation. Why make her pay for your laziness as well as for your seat (after all, she will have likely paid for her reservation)

Thetasigmamum There were no tickets - electronic signs. As per original post, 'carefully seeking out a seat labelled as 'not reserved'' so not just lacking a label but actually labelled as 'not reserved', I think that was quite clear. Carefully, as I looked at the signs in the carriage I entered. Btw reservations are usually free to make.

The train company had failed to honour any reservations yet according to you they were not to blame for this?

Now you're accusing me of removing a paper ticket and calling me all sorts of names?

That is so f*ing annoying. I hate people with bad train manners. I got on a packed train yesterday as it was 4 coaches instead of 8 and a girl (of about 16) and her mum were sitting on one of those 3 seats that face another 3 seats with a pair of crutches on the 3rd seat. There was a spare seat infront of the crutches so I took it and had to move the crutches so I could sit there, they ended up resting against my foot the whole train journey even though I kept moving my foot cos it was uncomfortable and she didnt move them the whole time even though there were about 5 people standing and her mum said nothing. I felt like giving her a slap she was that obnoxious and the fact her mum just sat there...grrrrrr. She wasn't disabled at all, she had her legs crossed and was texting the whole time.

Scared my cat asleep next to me LMAO'ing at TheHumanCatapult last sentence in post!

OP you should have growled at him. It worked for a poster last week. I tried to find the thread but failed. Anyone?

I live in london and have NEVER worried about asking people to move their bags off an empty seat on the tube so that I can sit down. I wouldn't even see it as a problem. If I was on a train I would do the same thing.