annoyed woman wont move seats on train

[PrettyPleaseXo]

Currently on the train with my 5 year old. There’s loads of individual seats but none together so I’m stood next to my daughter who’s sat down next to another woman.
AIBU to be a bit annoyed she’s turned her back on my daughter to avoid eye contact and hasn’t moved to another seat so I can sit next to my daughter?

if there were no other seats I’d completely get it but there’s loads of individual ones

Did you? I’m stood next to my daughter who’s sat down next to another woman.

Obviously , what I'm saying is that as all other people were sitting with only one free seat beside them , OP would have had a seating problem wherever her daughter sat .

Anyone who has paid for a (usually very expensive train ticket) has a 'legitimate reason to not want to move...' 🙄 Why does the OP and her child's desire for the seat trump the other woman's?

And why should said woman have to make conversation with her child!! Literally NO-ONE is interested in your child. They might be the cutest little prince or princess in the world to you, but to everyone else (apart from the grandparents and an aunt or two maybe) they're just someone else's kid!

@betterangels The OP said she was standing
Interestingly, no further comments from OP

Take your child and go and ask someone else to move, as the poor woman you’re glaring at is either unable or just doesn’t want to move for you. Nor should she have to. Why are you victimising her, among all the other people sitting in two-person rows and leaving only single seats available? There must be upwards of forty of them, even on a small local train.

There's no reason for the woman to be annoyed and turn away from your daughter. In a related issue I'm annoyed by people travelling alone who sit in the window seat and then put a bag on the aisle seat to try and dissuade others from sitting there.

This. ^ The OP is breathtakingly entitled!

So because she’s young and on her phone, you deserve the seat so much more and she should move? Doesn’t make sense. It’s a first come, first served situation. You’re likely intimidating her by staring at her, which is why she’s avoiding eye contact with you and looking at her phone. You’re making her uncomfortable.

Her money is just as valid as yours, and I’d rather have her as a fellow passenger on the train vs someone as entitled and ill prepared as you. It being difficult to get a seat on train services is common knowledge. Most people prepare for this by reserving a seat, using first class, getting to the train station early enough to be one of the first on, getting on a different stop, using a less busy service/travelling at quieter times etc. Otherwise it’s common sense that you just suck it up and stand, or sit apart from who you’re travelling with if it’s a busy service.

It’s really entitled of you to think you can just rock up whenever and just put a seating plan in place for other passengers to ensure you get the seats you want. You’re not a priority I’m afraid, you have no power in this situation. Maybe you should invest in a car?

No do not tap her on the shoulder, as some posters are asking. You are putting her in a position to engage with you and look like the mean one if she does not want to.

I would move if I didn’t have a specific reason to want that seat. But would not be happy if asked.

The thread didn't go her way. Or hopefully, she's interacting with her child on the journey.

She might have got off the train by now.

If there aren't any free seats close by it is even more unreasonable to expect the woman to move.
If I were the woman in this case, I probably would offer to move, but only if I could see a free seat from where I was.

Use your words and ask her

Is this a commuter type train with no reserved seats or an Intercity one?

How long is your journey?

Have you walked the length of the train to find 2 seats together or are you in the first carriage you came to?

I'd be inclined to sit on the empty seat and your 5 yr old can stand.
On the basis that children stand and adults sit. :)

Is 'Use your words' a new thing?

Most people would say 'Ask'. Or 'use your tongue'.

This.

Exactly this

OP has a 5 year old so she'll understand the 'Use your words' comment

I think that if you had taken the seat and left your DD standing, other people nearby might have taken the hint and offered a seat.

And of course it depends if this is a 35 min trip or a 6 hr one.

Why did you pick on her?

Just out of interest and slightly off track, but why has the OP put haha in several of her posts? What does mean to add haha in the middle of sentence and are people using this a lot these days?

I am guessing the OP is at least 20 years younger than me, so I am obviously out of touch 😀

This

I would have sat DD on my lap

My DD 16 has sat on my lap before on a packed bus when she gave up her seat for an older person

Indeed, they might have rescued this poor girl, full of judgement for OP for her apparent lack of care for the well-being of her child. Or also not noticed, since people don't tend to spend their train journey looking around the carriage.

I think probably in this context it's because OP is choosing to 'Use her death stare', to try and intimidate the woman. God knows what OP would do with her tongue since she seems to reticent to actually speak to the woman like a reasonable person.