To have expected this woman to move seats

[appletarts]

I was on the train back from London, with a first class ticket. In the carriage there was one space available for a buggy with a seat facing it, also described as disabled access. I arrived just as a woman was putting her things on the seat, I said excuse me do you think I could put my buggy here? She goes yes but sits down in the seat opposite it. Uh... I said do you think I could have that seat so I can look after my child during the journey and she starts moaning saying she's booked in advance and wants to sit in her booked seat. I asked her does she have a specific need which means she needs this seat, she says no. I said well I'm sure you don't want to meet the needs of my child for three hours do you? How about you let me have that seat so I can look after my DD and if someone comes on a disputes you being in that free seat we'll deal with it then. She then moans more saying she's booked and why is she being made out to be in the wrong, lots of eye rolling and tutting on her part. I say she can sit in 99% of the seats available and I need this 1%, I need this one seat. Eventually she moves but behaves as if she's been evicted and sits with a cats arse face for most of journey sighing everytime my dd dared utter a gurgle. Seriously? Is this unreasonable of me?

Yet another example of a parent thinking that a child in a buggy should give them some sort of preferential treatment. Never understood it. Has always driven me potty. More so now I'm the parent of a one year old. Wouldn't dream of behaving like this. YABVU.

Perhaps she was disabled.

Why get on a train with a pushchair and not book thet appropriate seat? You sound like a delight.

I doubt she booked that particular seat appletarts. It was most likely allocated to her randomly.

Yabu, as you do not need to sit down. It sounds like you were quite rude tbh.

How do you know she was able bodied just because she didn't want to spill her medical history to a complete stranger?

How do you know she was able bodied? She might just have thought it was none of your fucking business?

But why not book that space if you specifically need it? What would you have done had there already been a pushchair or wheelchair user there? Or what if a wheelchair user had got on at the next stop?

As if you asked her what was wrong?i wouldn't have wanted to give you my medical history either!how cheeky!!

You kicked a woman out of her pre-booked seat ?

My you must have big balls

She was undoubtedly allocated the seat by the ticket people, you don't get to choose which airline seat you get or I never have anyway.

If it was her booked seat, then it was hers and you are completely unreasonable I'm afraid, as well as rather rude.

As I said earlier, those seats have more leg room so are more comfortable. I can;t believe that anyone with a baby would go on a 3 hour train journey without booking a seat. If there had been no seats available, would you have expected someone to give up theirs OP?

I would not have moved! Sit your child on your knee and fold the buggy. If you wanted that seat you should have booked it!

You shouldn't EXPECT her to move from her reserved seat but I think most people wouldn't mind if there were plenty of free seats, however if you actually said what you claim then you were bloody rude! You WERE making out she was in the wrong for sitting in her booked seat, as somebody else said you should have booked the seat yourself if you needed it.

I wish it was me you'd tried to shift. I would have had such a laugh.

What the actual fuck has it got to do with you why she booked that seat?
Maybe she didnt want to explain her medical history to a train full of people and you should not have asked her that question.

Look, I'm all for doing nice things for people, even if it puts you out a bit yourself. I think the world would be a better place if people thought about others a bit more.

But you cannot turf someone out of a pre booked seat.
You cannot continue to harass someone after they have said no.
And you most definitley cannot ask a stranger to justify the medical reason that they need to sit in their own seat

You could very easily have sat elsewhere.

YABVU! She said you could put the buggy there, you could have taken your child out of the buggy and sat somewhere else. It doesn't matter why she booked the seat, the fact is, she had booked it and you hadn't.

Why do some people seem to think that having a child is comparable to some sort of disability?!

Unreasonable? Unless this is a reverse, you're coming across as a monster.

OP, I do not have mobility issues, but I have motion sickness. I don't know which direction the disputed seat was in, nor the one you asked her to move to, but I always try to book in advance to give myself the best chance of getting a forward facing seat (doesn't always work). In which case, there is no way in hell I would be moving from the seat I'd booked in advance specifically to avoid spewing my guts up. Nor would I be explaining myself to someone who can't take no for an answer!

The bit I don't understand about your story, - why did you order point her to a 'free' seat which could possibly be pre-booked by someone else, rather than your own pre-booked first class seat?

This is what you get if you go first class. Lovely people like OP to travel with.

See, If that was me who you moved, then I would have been worried someone else might turn up at a later stop, who had booked that seat and then I would have to move again and my whole trip would have been a nightmare.
YABVU.
Next time book your seats.

You were being unreasonable and rude.

Is it a reversy percy thread? Need to know if I can be arsed to post my valuable view

Do you make a habit of being so entitled, appletarts, or do you save it especially for train journeys?

YABVVVU. The woman booked a seat, one which was almost certainly allocated for her rather than chosen by her. You could have done the same, you could have taken your child out of the buggy, folded it down and sat your child on your knee. Instead you chose to bully someone out of their seat.

She is a better person than me. I would have just popped my head phones in and ignored you.
What would you have done if you were unable to use the space because someone with a greater need than yours, needed it?

I'm a bit shocked. If there were no assigned seats, I understand you asking her to move. I would have moved happily for you. But if she booked a specific seat, regardless of not having a buggy or disability, she's entitled to that seat. It was generous of her to let you park the buggy there and take the baby out - I know it's not ideal, and I understand you're probably stressed and were hoping you could let baby sleep in the buggy through the ride, but you truly didn't have a right to the seat because you have a baby in a buggy. I think you acted incredibly cheeky.

I hope we're not coming off mean, OP, because I'm going to chalk this up to some stressed out, unreasonable, post-baby brain.