Elderly couple on train

[brummiesue]

Initial thoughts were what utter twats they were especially after hearing that the woman in question is heavily pregnant. I then however saw the unpixelated photo and the poor woman who wouldn't move looks poorly. AIBU to have a little sympathy for them now??
Link below hopefully
mol.im/a/7602911

I hope they are named and shamed. How dare they refuse to move from those seats. You can bet if someone sat in seats they had reserved, they wouldn't just accept it.

No excuse for rudeness.

I would have bloody sat on them....

I hope all their neighbours are saying' Goodness, whoever thought Doris and Fred would be so rude. They seemed such quiet, lovely neighbours'.

I like the way 'Doris' was wearing her black gloves in the photo. Keeping up appearances, regardless.

Maybe just maybe, and am not defending Doris and Fred, they genuinely thought that reservations don't apply and it's a case of whoever is on first, bags the seat.

I'd love to hear their side.

Maybe her hands were cold.

The daughter looks to be turning into a right madam. The ‘problem’ was sorted, nothing to see here.

@broomzoom why not start your own thread and ask ?

If it was me I'd have got my pregnant self in the window seat and the children could have taken it in turns standing, they're not too little to use their legs and take it in turns.

Maybe she was wearing black gloves because they’d just been to a funeral. Maybe they had just received some devastating news and were reeling from it. Or maybe they were just being horrible and refusing to move for the sake of it.

The point is that you know absolutely nothing about this couple, and nothing about what happened apart from what one person posted on social media.

It’s easy to see how witch trials happened.

I have little sympathy for anyone that runs to the papers or seeks attention on social media. Unless it’s a last resort. But the woman was given four seats in first class so the situation was solved and really she needs to pipe down and just get in with her life. If all reserved seats were indeed invalidated then she should get her facts straight first. Her daughter looks rude and I would be embarrassed if either of mine behaved like that.

@Wanderingbar I hope you find that your sense of humour soon.

I don't think the mother went to the papers herself - they lifted the story from twitter, just like they lift stories from mumsnet all the time. And at the time she first tweeted, the issue had not been resolved with the offer of seats elsewhere.

So the couple weren’t rude but the girl is rude? You can get that from a picture? Because she was looking in that direction at that particular time the photo was taken? I’ve heard it all now.

She was glaring at them. On her mother’s instruction, apparently.

@greeneyedlulu

How can you see that she's poorly from a pixelated photo? Probably just an entitled rich twerp, lots of those round Cheltenham! But seeing as the woman and her children got a better seat it worked out but she is right, continually letting people get away with crap like this is what makes them think they are more entitled!

Oh for fuck's sake, what is wrong with you? Now we're having people from Cheltenham labelled as entitled rich twerps! As well as the elderly couple labelled as nasty old fuckers blah blah blah!

As a few people have said, the mother of the kids had every right to be pissed off about the situation, and to tell the guard on the train, but her posting it all over the internet is just dreadful, attention seeking and tacky.

Seems to me that this 'mother' who is a 'writer' is having such a struggle getting herself known, and is so mediocre, that she has made a mountain out of a molehill, and publicly shamed an elderly couple, for some media attention.

And the couple are NOT pixelated, on the very popular and very much viewed TWITTER forum. You can easily see who they are.

If these were MY parents, (or grandparents,) I would have gone nuclear on this horrible, entitled woman, posting my loved-ones pics all over the fucking internet, and slagging them off.

I hope this bites this woman on the arse REALLY BADLY, and it blows up in her face. Wouldn't surprise me if it ruined her career. I'm not saying I hope it does, but I wouldn't be sorry.

Anyone who thinks this woman's behaviour is OK, needs to give their head a wobble. Saying people who find her behaviour awful 'don't have a sense of humour' is fucking ludicrous. Can you hear yourself @PunkHairToday ??? There is nothing FUNNY about this woman's behaviour!

And as a few posters have said, getting the kids to sit opposite, and stare at the elderly couple, (like nasty little bullies,) was just dreadful. She's not going to win any 'mother of the year' award. And I dread to think what her kids are going to turn into with a mother like her.

Bet they’ll know how seat reservations work, though.

Having seen the photos sans pixels... they know full well what arseholes they are.
How she managed to hold herself together whilst pregnant is beyond me. I'm currently pregnant and my hormones are making me evil... they would have been crying by the time I finished I reckon!
On a serious note though they were out of order, clearly reserved paid for seats as everyone likes a table seat don't they.
Doesn't give you the right to just plonk yourself there and refuse point blank to move. Disgusting behaviour regardless of age, although I agree with other pp's that unfortunately a lot of the older generations seem to think they're owed and behave as such. (Speaking from experience).

If these were MY parents, (or grandparents,) I would have gone nuclear on this horrible, entitled woman, posting my loved-ones pics all over the fucking internet, and slagging them off.

My parents would not behave like this. I don't know anyone who would treat a pregnant woman with 3 kids like that.

If the story is untrue in any material way they will have a good case for libel.

If the story is true then the woman is hardly entitled by wanting the seat she booked. I think it's a bit unreasonable to blame the victim for publicising their behaviour.

Now we're having people from Cheltenham labelled as entitled rich twerps!

No, we're not. Your reading comprehension could do with work.

It's actually scary how some people believe anything posted on social media without wondering what the other side of it was, especially with a photo attached which makes them identifiable. It's alright though, once she has had her baby people on here will be moaning about the entitlement of mothers with babies so it will even out. Cross country trains have the most legroom at their tables as well, and priority seating is very limited (as I found out when I had to use them for work with a broken leg), do you think they were that arsed about having a table for the sake of it? Or could there be more to it.

posting a picture of an elderly couple all over the internet

What does their age have to do with it?

moaning and whining like a little brat, making her kids glare at the elderly couple, and then getting them to pose with 'daily mail sad faces.' Hideous behaviour from a classless immature spiteful woman.

Good grief. You didn't have a difficult train journey recently did you?

It's actually scary how some people believe anything posted on social media without wondering what the other side of it was....Or could there be more to it.

There certainly could, but this behaviour is not very rare or unlikely without more to it.

The story has appeared in a national paper with a quote from the train company somewhat validating it. The story is explained in specific and clear detail on her Twitter.

I don't think choosing to accept the story as is, until and unless more info is available, is remotely the same as credulously believing every half baked post on SM.

Oh, and yet more ageism:

I agree with other pp's that unfortunately a lot of the older generations seem to think they're owed and behave as such

@lonelyonee you need to stop writing such unpleasant stuff.

How would you feel if you read a lot of black people seem to think they're owed and behave as such? It's racist, just as what your'e written is ageist.

Can't believe people on this thread keep having to point out the ageism

The story in the paper was only lifted from her Twitter posts:

Spoke to conductor who was calm, lovely, and apologetic, said that instead of engaging with them that he was going to move us to an empty table in first class.

Most likely to avoid her behaviour esculating, the spokesperson who issued the other statement was unlikely to have also been on board, and was responding to pressure on her Twitter threads to say something- hence reacting to her version of events. Anyway, if they did have the need to have seats on the 'packed train' ie nowhere else to sit rather than just wanting the table, why should they have to justify themselves to her if reservations had been cancelled (this happens regularly, and sometimes the paper tickets are still on seats in the carriages which have left). Even if not, it's petty and pathetic to do this, first world problems springs to mind.