CF on a train

[Polarbearflavour]

I was travelling first class on a train recently - not a stealth boast as it was one of those £15 weekend upgrades!

Minding my own business, reading the paper in a lovely empty carriage etc. I was sitting in the seat with extra legroom which is also for wheelchair users. Had my suitcase with me and had my foot up on the suitcase as it was a bit swollen (healed fracture but occasionally swells still).

Naturally, if a person in a wheelchair came along I would move straight away.

At the next stop, a family got in - mum, dad, toddler and baby in a pram. Mum glares through the vestibule door at me and I hear her say loudly “we could have sat there with the pram but some stuck up cow is there reading.” Not sure how reading a broadsheet newspaper and having the audacity to sit in first class makes me stuck up but never mind.

The Train Manager checks their tickets, tells them they should be in standard class if they don’t want to pay to upgrade (she refused) and said he’ll let them stay in the vestibule this time as their stop is coming up.

When they do get off the train, I hear mum again moaning how hard it is to get a pram off the train and that “snooty cow” should have offered l help. She then sticks her fingers up at me through the window and I smile and wave at her as she shots me a nasty look.

WTF? Why would I offer to help (even with the foot) after she was so rude about me?

If they had asked me politely I would have moved to let them park the pram there.

AIBU to buy one of those old sea forts only accessible by boat or helicopter and avoid people?!

I'd go for the fort too. A different one from yours, of course!

she isn't representative of people on trains OP. she may have been having the mother of all shit days and regrets it. or she might just be an exceptionally rude and entitled person. you paid for your seat in 1st class so just enjoy it and I hope that you have a quieter journey from now on.

Some people are just colossal nob jockeys

Well she sounds lovely ! Don’t even think about this. Some people are charged and unhappy sometimes for good reasons sometimes not. Nothing to do with you !

oh and I wouldn't go for the fort - sorry. as someone who lives in a very rural area I can go for days without seeing anyone and even the postman gets greeted like a long lost friend!! I quite enjoy a trip to the city as a bit of person watching treat.

YANBU

She just sounds like a cow. If trains are so difficult to her, she should buy a bloody car rather than bitch and moan about other people on the train. Least you paid the correct price for your ticket, she was a cheap idiot who didn't bother.

I think that you smiled and waved instead of sticking two fingers right back up like I would have done would have been even more irritating for her

Why would anyone take a pram on a train? CF

Why didn't the dad help her off the train?

books seat on ferry to the fort

From the sound of it, (and for this to make any kind of sense at all), she probably thought you could clearly see her and was annoyed you didn't offer to take your foot off your suitcase.

@sizzledrizz I take a pram on trains. It is no big deal.

However I don't expect to go first class when I've paid for standard class.

Can I purchase a part share in the fort please?

Some people are odd OP. Increasingly, I wonder if it’s me rather than them though! Surely, there can’t be that many irritating people out there.

YANBU

The family shouldn’t even have been in the first class carriage, let alone demand your seat. Definite CFery going on there.

How many people does it take to get a pram off a train?! Once upon a time you'd have mothers with those big-ass prams AND their shopping AND a toddler managing just fine on their own.
Love the fort idea. We could do with a small group of islands, each with a couple of forts (opposite sides of the island) for all us folk who don't need other people too often.

Why would she expect to be put into first class with a standard ticket? Cheeky cow! Just because she has a pram doesn't mean she requires special treatment.

If I ever win the lottery, I'm getting my own train.

Apparently she married a useless man if she needs to berate strangers for not helping her with her children when he's right there with her! just quietly feel sorry for her poor choices in life and ignore her.

I hate to derail a thread, but the phrase 'nob jockey' is extremely offensive and just so uncalled for.

Can you ask that your comment be removed please @spugzbunny ?

Love your response Bet that wound her up something rotten.

I've come across people like this. Loudly passive aggressive especially the ones who try and get in First Class without a ticket and mouth off when they get asked to leave.

Definition as you don't seem to be aware

Well done OP, I hate bullies like that. Last week I did a smile and wave at a BMW driver who tried to force me to reverse on a single track lane despite the fact he'd deliberately driven past a passing place after seeing me coming, I guess he didn't want to get his precious car muddy. I refused to move and after a couple of minutes of mouthing at me aggressively and revving his engine he got fed up with trying to intimidate me and finally reversed back into the passing place whilst I drove past merrily waving with a beaming smile. That definitely pissed him off even more!

I think it’s sad that OPs have to fall over themseleves to point out this isn’t a “stealth boast” or a “drip-feed” so as not to offend.

The dad was pretty much silent for the journey!

It was the entitlement that got me. The expectation that a randon person should assess her needs and pre-empt them.

And the passive aggressive attitude of not even saying “please can I can put my pram in that space” but just being angry at me even being there. Why not just ask? They didn’t have first class tickets and didn’t want to pay to upgrade so shouldn’t have been there anyway!