Please or to access all these features

Add post

Watch this thread

Save thread

Start a new thread

Flip thread

Hide thread

My feed

Active Unanswered threads

Getting started FAQ's

Unanswered threads Acronyms Talk guidelines

Hide shortcut buttons

Talk

AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Flip

1 2 3 4

Original poster

To as long whose side you'd have been on on this train?

96 replies

WanderingNotLost · 13/12/2016 13:41

Apologies in advance, it's a Daily Mail story

Personally I think it's bad form to not move your bags if people need seats but to be fair, if it had been me on the receiving end of the "I'm carrying a baby, you have to respect me" line it would have got my back up!

OP posts:

Doughnutsmademefat · 14/12/2016 00:46

The person in the video saying that due to disruption, people can sit anywhere seems to have been taken as a spokesman for the rail company. Anyway, the older lady was still pretty horrible and rude.

The women demanding 'respect' because she has a baby isn't doing much for blowing sway the sense of entitlement that some people feel parents have because they managed to produce an offspring.

QueenLizIII · 14/12/2016 01:48

It's so ridiculous you couldnt make it up.

Both demanding respect for no reason: one simply has a baby and one is old...doesn't entitle either to respect, do they think they are Kofi Annan?!

Ahickiefromkinickie · 14/12/2016 04:29

Could the woman with baby have meant 'you have to give consideration to my baby' when she said 'you gave to respect me'?

Sounds like she is a Spanish speaker, and having studied French and Spanish, I know that sometimes language doesn't translate well.

Also not sure what the older woman meant with 'you have to respect your elders and betters'? Why is she better, because she is older?

And why did everyone assume the woman with baby didn't have a FC ticket? (I rarely need to use trains).

SomethingLikeFlying · 14/12/2016 05:29

It was the older woman who was demanding respect. She said you have to respect your elders/your "betters".

What makes her "better" than the woman with the baby? Her age? she sounds like an obnoxious cow so she wouldn't get an ounce of respect from me.

EmeliaHerveyHenryFitzroy · 14/12/2016 07:58

you have to respect your elders and betters'?

I interpreted that as her being both racist and clsssist - ie you are a foreigner and I'm not and you haven't got first class ticket and I do (and possibly even if you did I'm still better than you due my self-perceived elevated social status)

She was being a first class cunt. But I still thought that Both of them were unreasonable and rude.

The language barrier may not have helped but the mothers flappy exaggerated body language seems congruent with her acting quite indignant.

The man saved the day though and the clap was interesting as I thought it meant that people were supporting the woman with the baby - did anyone else think that?

Mammylamb · 14/12/2016 08:40

Thought the old woman was unreasonable. Even if the first class seats were not declassified, it really would have been unsafe for the woman with the baby to be standing up; the train could have lurched and the woman fallen over. As as for "elders and betters"? Wtaf?

Temporaryname137 · 14/12/2016 08:57

The comments on the article are just lovely - what a gang of peaches!!

I think "elders and betters" is a phrase, but who actually uses it to someone's face?

Tanith · 14/12/2016 09:15

Baby or not, the mother deserved the basic respect and courtesy of being offered a seat that was taken up with someone's bag.

What has happened to this country where such every day good manners have been forgotten? The older woman should be utterly ashamed of herself!

maddiemookins16mum · 14/12/2016 09:18

I might have missed this, but how did the older lady know what class of ticket the mum had anyway. None of her business. If the mum was travelling in the first class section on a standard ticket then that's her problem to deal with when the ticket inspector comes round. (cute baby).

ChardonnayKnickertonSmythe · 14/12/2016 09:21

I thought the train company said the seats weren't decommissioned.

I do hate people who leave their bags on the seat, the older woman was rude.
On the other hand the mum did say "you have to respect me because I have a baby" and that's utter rubbish too.
One of them swore, which one was it?

DontTouchTheMoustache · 14/12/2016 09:37

Those damn entitled mothers wanting to put the safety of their babies over the convenience of putting a bag on a seat
And I agree with PP who said it was probably a language issue and she was trying to say the older woman should show consideration for her because she has a baby.
Imagine if she had backed down to that awful woman and stayed standing then fallen while holding her baby and injured him? Those standing up for the older lady, would you still be standing up for her?

MuseumOfCurry · 14/12/2016 09:43

In my view, this rests very much with whether the carriage was actually first class.

It's not rocket science to work out that people who have paid for first class aren't going to like unticketed mothers and babies to come in for free.

I wonder how the old woman knew she didn't have a first class ticket?

Trifleorbust · 14/12/2016 09:46

Bag lady was being a total bitch. Unless she is a train conductor she has no right to ask people whether they have tickets. She has no right to decide who sits next to her. The only thing she could be certain of was that her fucking bag hadn't paid for a seat

MiniCooperLover · 14/12/2016 09:49

There was a language barrier and she was telling her to respect the fact she was carrying a baby over the need for her bag to have a seat. The old woman was nasty. And the muppet who tried to join in and give her a hard time about first class was thankfully shut down by the nice man who stood up for her.

SomethingLikeFlying · 14/12/2016 09:51

The older woman also said she didn't want a "crying/screaming baby" next to her. The baby wasn't even making a sound . Typical child hater.

HarveySchlumpfenburger · 14/12/2016 09:54

The 'I've got a cold and I don't want to give it to your baby' was a particular highlight.

It's got an air of moody teen when they are in the wrong but don't want to back down.

SomethingLikeFlying · 14/12/2016 09:55

She was so trying to make excuses when she said that about having a cold. If she really did have one and did care then she would have warned the mum in the first place but still have the mum the option o still sit next to her.

PoldarksBreeches · 14/12/2016 10:00

The respect comment was obviously a result of the language barrier. I'm convinced she meant that they should respect the fact that she has a baby and give her due consideration.
The older woman was a cow.

Thefitfatty · 14/12/2016 10:06

Older woman was a complete cow. I don't know how anyone could defend her. It's quite obvious that English wasn't the mother's first language as well, which would explain the awkwardly phrased "you have to respect me...". I hope she enjoyed the rest of her trip next to the lovely sounding man.

myfavouritecolourispurple · 14/12/2016 10:18

People baggsying seat with bags are one of my biggest bugbears. I tend to make a point of asking them to move their bags even if there are other seats available

If you did that to me I'd just move to a free double seat and put my bags down again. It's one thing if the train is going to get full, but if it's going to stay half empty it's just silly to sit next to someone just to make a point. If I know the train is going to get full I don't put my bags on the seat in the first place.

As for this scenario, of course person trumps bags, whether carrying a baby or not.

DailyFail1 · 14/12/2016 10:22

myfavouritecolourispurple on the routes I use you'd be charged for 2 seats irrespective of how full the train is. Train conductors take a dim view of bags on seats.

QueenLizIII · 14/12/2016 10:29

Even if the first class seats were not declassified, it really would have been unsafe for the woman with the baby to be standing up; the train could have lurched and the woman fallen over

As is frequently said to pregnant women on here who need seats, if you need a seat ask.

There is no reason why she could not have asked people in ordinary class to give her a seat.

She marched into first class knowing it wasnt declassified and wanted it her own way right now.

Bet she didnt even try to get a seat in a part of the train she did actually have a valid ticket for.

ChardonnayKnickertonSmythe · 14/12/2016 10:31

How was the respect comment "obviously" a translation issue?
Are any of the posters who say that Spanish interpreters?

Now, I do think the older woman was a complete cow, but I'm still sceptical about anyone asking fir respect because they have a baby.

Consideration, yes. Respect, don't think so.

DailyFail1 · 14/12/2016 10:35

Respect can mean the same as manners in Spanish

QueenLizIII · 14/12/2016 10:39

Have you all watched the video?

Translation issue my arse. She speaks good English and swears at the old woman. She says "I dont give a Im carrying a baby, you have to respect me."

The old woman probably said elders and betters because of that woman being rude and her foul mouth in public when she stated her demands and the train hadnt been declassified: the train company said it wasnt declassified. So she stated her demands and swore at people to get it.

Id have told her where to go too.

As for racist comments She is white. Spanish etc isnt a race.

Flip

1 2 3 4

Swipe left for the next trending thread