Rude woman on the bus, WWYD?

[DontReinMeIn]

Last night I got on the bus like normal, there was a guy watching the news out loud without headphones on. It was annoying but it is what it is, you can’t force someone to put headphones on, so I put my AirPods in and that was that.

a couple of stops later an older woman (probably 50-ish?), got on and goes straight up to the man, starts jabbing him and shouting at him to turn it off, because the news was now about Trump and a speech he made and the woman “can’t bear to listen to it”. The man said no and turned back to his phone. She started screaming hysterically about the fact she can’t stand Trump, shouldn’t be subjected to listening to him in a public place, and demanding that the bus driver remove him from the bus.

The driver refused and told her that she needed to sit down or get off, as he couldn’t continue his route with her being disruptive. She sat down, but was crying loudly and told every single person that got on about what had happened, how she was so much better than that man and criticising everyone else on the bus for not “speaking up” about him listening to it.

AIBU to think I should’ve just told her to shut up? Looking back I regret it because as much as I dislike Trump (and people not using headphones on public transport), the man wasn’t actually doing anything wrong and shouldn’t have been attacked like he was.

Totally agree. She’s vilified a women for standing up to bad behaviour and changed her story.

Sorry, it was a typo - I don’t know where mid 60s came from as I am definitely 26!!!

Yeah what a great solution for the environment! We should all get cars and add to pollution and road congestion just because some people want to play their music/videos out loud 🙄

It was a typo! I am 26 (for sure!), and she is an older woman to me? How else am I meant to describe her?

The same way you did the man, without an age descriptor.

Probably because anyone 'screaming hysterically' on a bus whilst continuously jabbing someone is really not 'just a bit of an arsehole'. That is not just 'rude'.
'Screaming hysterically' and 'crying loudly'?

If this actually happened, this was not just a stressed woman 🤷‍♀️

I mean, the woman was the main character if you will. I’ve given an age descriptor for the man.

@DontReinMeIn

Her age is irrelevant, OP. Women are allowed to complain about shitty behaviour whether you like it or not - in fact more of us should, we tolerate far too much generally.

not everyone can afford a car
not everyone wants a car
not everyone has the physical ability to drive a car

any or all of those can apply

'I just think she was totally overreacting and incredibly rude. People listening to things out loud is part of public transport and you just have to get on with it'

No people are just prob for good reason cowards. Why should people have to put up with selfish tw@t5 kids is one thing but adults.
Buses are the worst I just stopped using them a lot worse people on than that some drunk carpenter in the middle of the day waving a piece of wood around - he stopped but I got fed up fighting other peoples battles who are 30 yrs younger than me

What part is relevant?

Two wrongs here. The man was being an asshole listening without headphones but the woman was MUCH MORE wrong for escalating to violence (she is lucky he didnt retaliate by shoving her back) and for her objections to the content of the noise rather than the noise itself. Man did not have right to create noise pollution for everyone else but he did have the right to listen to content he wished.

I just don’t think it’s worth assaulting someone over!

Not in OP you didn't

Okay? You’re trying to make this some sexist, ageist thing as if what she did was rational

what the man was doing could well be illegal; “Broadcasting TV or radio in a public place without permission is illegal in the UK and can result in fines and legal action due to copyright infringement
. Businesses require a public performance licence from Motion Picture Licensing Company (MPLC) or similar bodies to legally screen content. You may also need a premises licence from your local council.

@DontReinMeIn

How did she assault him?

If this actually happened. There's a lot here to suggest the OP is being somewhat hyperbolic.

I'd also add that I've seen plenty of behaviour like this in people who are not mentally unwell but instead just choose to behave as they please, or find themselves behaving out of character following an unexpected sequence of events. I've seen it in A&E waiting rooms and in prisons, to name just two places. I've also seen it in domestic abuse, elder abuse, and bullying scenarios.

"Mental illness" is thrown around far too often, and as well as being harmful to people who do have mental illness by giving the impression that this is just how mentally unwell people behave, it also dismisses behaviour which can and should be addressed in people who don't actually have mental illness. In short, it's sheer laziness to throw "mentally ill" as a label at something just because the person using it cannot otherwise explain the behaviour.

By your logic - if someone is flashing you on the bus, it’s your responsibility to shut your eyes rather than theirs to keep their clothes on!!

How is her age at all relevant to her action? How old was the man?

Your OP reveals your sexist ageism: "older" woman behaving badly by daring to tell someone off for their bad behaviour in shared, public space.

But she didn’t just tell him off, did she? She assaulted him!

Sexual assault isn’t the same as listening to a video out loud

One typo means I’m lying? Okay 😂

Jabbing his shoulder repeatedly while screaming in his face?

Absolutely nothing to do with a typo and everything to do with your description of this screaming, hysterical woman...