to think that nobody died from travelling backwards on a train?

[EvelynWardrobe]

Why do people make a fuss about this? The trains I travel on aren’t full, so I get to watch this pantomime of ninnies quite frequently.

Today I’m facing in the direction of travel at a table seat, empty seat beside me and two empty seats on the opposite side of the table. A couple get on, she sits opposite me and he insists I move my bag (the train is less than 50% occupied) so he can sit beside me.

I’m considering doing some man-spreading, even though I’m not one.

[SoupDragon]

Theres no reason why you'd puke in the back but not a foot further forward in the front.

It's quite straightforward. You know a car has that really large window right across the front? The one you only have an unobstructed view out of if you are sitting in the front (or in the centre back but that can obstruct the rear view for the driver)...?

[PinkSquash]

I'd rather have someone sit next to me on a forward facing seat, then have to lock the carriage out entirely because they've been sick and we have to take it out of service to clean...

[QueenUnicorn]

Seats are for people, not bags.
And if a train is half full and every person uses a seat for their bag then their will be no seats left. And if not everyone is using a seat for their bag it's because they have courtesy.

[Xeneth88]

I am a GP and honestly suggest to the people here if you are vomiting after 20seconds of being on a train backwords go see your GP immediately.

I have. I saw and actual GP not a pretend mumsnet one. She was very sympathetic and has helped alot. If you were an actual doctor you'd probably have a little more knowledge of these things but nice try doll.

[QueenUnicorn]

*there

[corythatwas]

hotbuttered, so how does that affect small children? How do they know that people believe you get more sick when seated in the back?

I have more experience of people being seasick on boats: there, the one thing that works is getting out of the cabin and focusing on the horizon. I can easily see how that would transfer to the car situation: more air in the front and a much better view.

[Bratsandtwats]

I feel incredibly nauseous if I go backwards or can't see out of the window.

Why does your bag need its own seat?

[MammaTJ]

You don't understand why people insist on sitting in forward facing seats, yet with a pretty empty train to choose from, you (and your bag) choose to sit in forward facing seats.

Oh, if this is not the very definition of irony, I don't know what is.

[venellopevonschweetz]

Yet another MN thread where posters selectively choose to ignore information given to them by other posters simply because it does not sit with their belligerent belief......

Sheesh.

I don’t puke but I do get horrific nausea/off balance/dizziness/headaches if I either a) travel backwards b) travel in the back of a car/back of a bus c) travel on ferries.

But I guess I’m just an attention seeking selfish faker......

[ArcheryAnnie]

I am a GP and honestly suggest to the people here if you are vomiting after 20seconds of being on a train backwords go see your GP immediately.

I can sit backwards on a train without dying, but after a while it makes me feel ill, so I don't do it. Why would I? I get sick with all kinds of motion sickness: I can't read or check texts when I'm on a bus because it will make me feel nauseous, even when I'm facing forwards. (Funnily enough I am OK reading on a tube.) I take trains rather than cheaper coaches because after half an hour on a coach I feel just awful with nausea.

...are you really sure you are a GP, if you don't believe motion sickness is a thing?

[IFellDownAHole]

I think you’ll find you’re more likely to have the seat next to you left free if you don’t put your bag on it. A lot of people do a passive aggressive ‘ooh is anyone sitting here?’ and insist on sitting there if a seat has a bag on it even if the train is half empty.

I only started putting my bag on seat next to me when I was pregnant and struggled to heave my heavy bag up from between my feet. My bag on seat would almost guarantee someone wanting to sit there.

[MorrisZapp]

YANBU.

[corythatwas]

Xeneth, I like your posting style

[namechange2222]

But what happens if you get on a train and all the forward seats are taken? I know I just enjoy forward seats and will always choose to sit in them it's nothing to do with motion sickness. So I ask with sincerity, where are all these vomiting people? I've never seen anyone throw up on a train and those thrower uppers cant all have had the good fortune to acquire forward facing seats

[BitOutOfPractice]

foodtime I really sincerely hope you aren't really a GP.

[SpuriouserAndSpuriouser]

Yeah if Foodtime is really a GP she would know it's against GMC guidelines to identify yourself on social media as a doctor without providing your name. Sooooo...

[ArcheryAnnie]

it’s mostly attention seeking

Plus, I am so glad that foodtime isn't my GP (if they really are a GP, as they claim) if this is their kneejerk response to someone reporting a health issue.

[hotbutteredcrumpetsandtea]

...are you really sure you are a GP, if you don't believe motion sickness is a thing?

That isn't what she said though, is it? I mean, you actually quoted her so you do know that isn't what she said.

[Awwlookatmybabyspider]

Well no, no one has ever died from falling backwards on a train, but they could break a limb if they fall awkwardly.
I'm not surprised he told you to move your bag Why was it sitting there like it owed the bloody train.

[BitOutOfPractice]

namechange many people have said they feel sick / dizzy / poorly if they travel backwards. I assume that's enough of a reason to try and avoid it, even if they don't actually vomit. I fall in this category and I'd rather avoid feeling grim for the whole journey just so someone can have the convenience of their bag next to them

[FlowerPot1234]

I don't get travel sick travelling backwards, but I know that others do. I just like to see what's coming up ahead out the window and if it's of interest I follow it with my eyes. If you're travelling backwards it comes up as a surprise and you see the thing of interest getting further and further away, instead of closer.

[ArcheryAnnie]

So I ask with sincerity, where are all these vomiting people?

Namechange2222 you do know it's possible to feel absolutely awful and nauseous without actually throwing up, right?

[EvelynWardrobe]

OP I think what you meant to say was "Ah sorry, I didn't realise this was a thing. Now I do know I'll stop name calling and be a bit less judgey and more considerate."

I didn’t actually, you know, call them ninnies out loud or anything.

I was on a train in Asia once where all the seats turned round when the train changed direction at the end of the line. It was like magic.

[EdmundCleverClogs]

Psychosomatic puking is the reason. There is no function of sitting in the back as opposed to the front that causes motion sickness.

Motion sickness is a physics/biological occurrence not a psychological one. Being sat in the front of a vehicle reduces the bumps felt, gives you better air circulation, gives you full visual so your ear-to-brain function doesn't become unbalanced etc. If it was psychological they'd give you therapy not medication as a main source to confit. Are you sure you're not mixing motion sickness with phobias?

[corythatwas]

namechange, I have seen people looking very pale and desperately hoping they weren't going to be sick. Why would you want to inflict that on a fellow human being just because there is a chance they won't actually chunder all over you?