Page 16 | Pushchair fight on bus

Partygal · 2022-12-19T22:25:11+00:00

After picking my child up from her child minder today, I arrived the bus stop to find two women with buggies waiting. Knowing that the driver wouldn’t let three of us on, I walked round the corner to the previous stop and got on there. When it arrived at the next stop, sure enough only mum was allowed on - the other was told to wait 30 minutes for the next bus. I was screamed at and called a cunt and a queue jumper by one mum who tried to shove me off the bus. I don’t think I did anything wrong, nor did the police when they turned up after being called by the driver. What the fuck is wrong with people?

whumpthereitis · 20/12/2022 09:27

DanseAvecLesLoups · 20/12/2022 09:18

Surprised the OP is getting a hard time, she was not being sneaky, just more switched on. The moralising and hand wringing here is astonishing.

My local tube stop gets incredibly busy in the mornings, instead of waiting forever I would jump on the outbound train one stop cross the platform and get a seat on the nearly empty inbound train. Never saw it as queue jumping.

it does end up being inadvertently fucking hilarious though. No matter how innocuous your actions, you can always count on mumsnet to work itself up into a froth and declare you What’s Wrong With The World™

Bagsundermyeyestoday · 20/12/2022 09:27

pictish · 20/12/2022 06:42

It's dog eat dog when it comes to buggy war on the bus. I encountered my fair share of this when mine were little. If I'd thought of it and been bothered to, I'd have done it too. When I'm trying to get home after a long day on the go, it's all about me. I think most people are the same.

Sad philosophy to live life by. What's the saying, "an eye for an eye leaves the whole world blind" guess that's where we're heading towards if that's how everyone thinks (not specific to buggy war, just general CFers, but this is a great example)

Mycatsgoldtooth · 20/12/2022 09:28

I think a lot of people commenting on this thread haven’t had children or drive everywhere.

SleeplessInEngland · 20/12/2022 09:29

Devoutspoken · 20/12/2022 09:22

I think no 1 is more dubious than no 2

It's not dubious, it's how buses work. God knows if that riled me up my morning commute would be unbearable.

AngelinaFibres · 20/12/2022 09:30

Mycatsgoldtooth · 20/12/2022 09:28

I think a lot of people commenting on this thread haven’t had children or drive everywhere.

This. If I had been standing at a bus stop, seen you walk up and then walk away and magically appear on the bus ahead of me , thereby denying me a space, I would honestly have wanted to rip your head off.

SleeplessInEngland · 20/12/2022 09:34

AngelinaFibres · 20/12/2022 09:30

This. If I had been standing at a bus stop, seen you walk up and then walk away and magically appear on the bus ahead of me , thereby denying me a space, I would honestly have wanted to rip your head off.

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And when you calmed down you'd hopefully have kicked yourself for not having done the same thing because it's a totally reasonable thing to do.

Queue-jumping would be if a new person joined the line then barged to the front when the bus arrived. Walking to another stop? Totally fine.

Cuppasoupmonster · 20/12/2022 09:34

Imagine waiting 20 minutes or so in the cold with a buggy for a bus only to see a woman who turned up later than you slyly hop on at the previous stop so you couldn’t! No it isn’t illegal or anything, but it’s definitely sly and a bit underhand and ‘me me me’. A lot of people take buses to actually get places, she could’ve been going to a doctor’s appointment or similar and missed it. I would’ve been boiling mad if that was me, and yes there’s a certain poetic justice that OP picked the ‘wrong woman’ 😆

PrinceHaz · 20/12/2022 09:34

It’s none of anyone else’s business when and where you get on a bus. The only issue would have been if you’d queue jumped at your new bus stop.

Lockheart · 20/12/2022 09:35

AngelinaFibres · 20/12/2022 09:30

This. If I had been standing at a bus stop, seen you walk up and then walk away and magically appear on the bus ahead of me , thereby denying me a space, I would honestly have wanted to rip your head off.

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Have you seen anyone for your unmanaged anger?

Brightstarowl · 20/12/2022 09:36

JoyBeorge · 20/12/2022 08:06

There was a time people just carried newborns..

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Are you talking pre-victorian times...?

How safe would it be to carry a newborn in the current weather we've had with ice on the pavements?

It's 2022 not 1702.

OneTC · 20/12/2022 09:38

Her reaction was understandable because your intent was obvious.

If you don't consider this to be sneaky behaviour then you must be a snake.

It's admirable in its cheek though I give it that

Ladysodor · 20/12/2022 09:39

I think your actions showed initiative and you didn’t break any laws. Take no notice of the negative replies, I would’ve done the very same thing. The mother in question was probably more annoyed that she hadn’t had the same idea.

Emotionalsupportviper · 20/12/2022 09:40

FatAgainItsLettuceTime · 19/12/2022 22:31

Was your pushchair foldable?

You acted knowing that you would be taking the place of someone who had been waiting longer than you.

Technically you didn't break any rules, but you were selfish and sneaky in your actions. If your pushchair was foldable then you could have folded it, put it in the bag bit and held your child.

So could they.

Zebedee55 · 20/12/2022 09:40

LakieLady · 20/12/2022 09:16

I'm old enough to have always had to fold the buggy, so I find it hard to understand why people don't these days.

I agree. I think it should be mandatory on public transport as it leaves more room for standing passengers. I've been on trains where it was near impossible to get down the aisle because of buggies in the gangway.

It may not be a big deal if you live somewhere where you get a bus every 10 minutes, but we only get 10 buses a day, so it can be a long wait if you have to let one go because it's full of buggies.

Quite. When my kids were young, you had to fold them. Nowhere to put them upright.

I used to struggle with a double buggy, shopping and two toddlers, as did others, but we survived.🙄

Whatever the ins and outs of bus stop queues, I would find it wrong that a young mum was shoving another person and calling them a cunt.

Great example to set a child.😗

Unifolorn · 20/12/2022 09:41

I have to say I applaud your quick thinking and think it's really clever! I would also be annoyed if I was at the other bus stop but similarly you haven't done anything wrong.

SleeplessInEngland · 20/12/2022 09:42

Mumsnet is great for throwing up everyday scenarios you couldn't imagine people getting angry over yet somehow still do.

Today it's "walking to a further bus stop to increase your chances of getting on." Apparently that's now 'sly' and 'underhanded'.

Honestly, this forum. It's a riot.

susiesuelou · 20/12/2022 09:44

Let's say there had been a specific shop that OP had realised she needed to pop into. So she arrived at the bus stop, was spotted by the two women already waiting, and then remembered she needed x or y from the shop. She walked back to the shop, and then waited at her next nearest bus stop, rather than walking back to the original one? Perfectly acceptable.

And how do the women throwing vile insults around on the bus know for sure something like that wasn't the case?

I know OP hasn't said anything like that - but the point is the passengers waiting at that stop have absolutely no idea why OP ended up at a different stop to them. 🤷‍♀️

DucklingDaisy · 20/12/2022 09:45

Lockheart · 20/12/2022 09:27

I never realised the only options available were either a very specific pram/bus combination or housebound.

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Ok, you've got a newborn and a 2-year-old and you don't drive. You've got to get somewhere that's too far to work. What's the strategy?

susiesuelou · 20/12/2022 09:46

SleeplessInEngland · 20/12/2022 09:42

Mumsnet is great for throwing up everyday scenarios you couldn't imagine people getting angry over yet somehow still do.

Today it's "walking to a further bus stop to increase your chances of getting on." Apparently that's now 'sly' and 'underhanded'.

Honestly, this forum. It's a riot.

Agreed 😂

Emotionalsupportviper · 20/12/2022 09:48

Cuppasoupmonster · 20/12/2022 09:34

Imagine waiting 20 minutes or so in the cold with a buggy for a bus only to see a woman who turned up later than you slyly hop on at the previous stop so you couldn’t! No it isn’t illegal or anything, but it’s definitely sly and a bit underhand and ‘me me me’. A lot of people take buses to actually get places, she could’ve been going to a doctor’s appointment or similar and missed it. I would’ve been boiling mad if that was me, and yes there’s a certain poetic justice that OP picked the ‘wrong woman’ 😆

How do you know they'd waited 20 mins?

Why didn't they walk to the previous stop to increase the likelihood of getting on the bus?

What if OP had just stayed in the queue and there had already been another pushchair on the bus? Would both women have stood back so they could stay with their mate, and let OP on? Or dragged the other mother off?

What if there's been two pushchairs on the bus already? Would they have hauled OP and the other mothers off?

And as for A lot of people take buses to actually get places - what do you think OP was doing?

a1poshpaws · 20/12/2022 09:48

Well, of course you did nothing wrong! It was open to both the other mothers to do just what you did but they chose to wait together.

If not you, then who's to say that there might not have been 1 or 2 others with buggies waiting at the stop before them - then neither of them would have got on.

It's called life.

BahHumbug2022 · 20/12/2022 09:49

Ladysodor · 20/12/2022 09:39

I think your actions showed initiative and you didn’t break any laws. Take no notice of the negative replies, I would’ve done the very same thing. The mother in question was probably more annoyed that she hadn’t had the same idea.

The other two ladies didn’t have to worry about it until the Op came along though. And the Op went straight off to the earlier stop so neither had a chance to assess the situation.

PyjamaFan · 20/12/2022 09:50

I don't think you did anything wrong OP, there was nothing stopping the other women from doing the same.

When I was a student I lived in a hall of residence with lots of music students. Whenever I spotted a group of them walking to the bus stop with assorted cello, trombone cases etc I would turn tail and go to the earlier stop around the corner. From previous experience I knew that the bus was often busy and the driver wouldn't always let everyone
on.

I never realised I would be considered sly for doing this!

susiesuelou · 20/12/2022 09:51

a1poshpaws · 20/12/2022 09:48

Well, of course you did nothing wrong! It was open to both the other mothers to do just what you did but they chose to wait together.

If not you, then who's to say that there might not have been 1 or 2 others with buggies waiting at the stop before them - then neither of them would have got on.

It's called life.

Such a good point.

There could have been an entirely different mum with a buggy at the previous stop anyway, which means they'd have had the same issue regardless of OP's actions. 🤷‍♀️

SleeplessInEngland · 20/12/2022 09:52

Has this thread made the papers yet?