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.

50 is NOT old!

It may help him remember that he is not the only person using public transport and to bring headphones.

You wanted her to shut up not to not assault the other passanger yet they are both guilty of noise polution 🤷‍♀️

I love the way they are all playing it down. Usual Mumsnet double standards.

Woman gets on bus screaming in people's faces poking and jabbing people = perfectly acceptable.

Man gets on the bus screaming in people's faces poking and jabbing people = he has no right to touch anyone ! That's assault! Call the police! Demand CCTV! Get witness statements!

She clearly has something going on in her head as it is an extreme reaction.

But that guy would have pissed me off too.

I hate other people inflicting their noise on others because they cba to wear earphones. If you can afford a phone, you can afford earphones. You can get some dead cheap in b&ms and they work well so cost is not an excuse.

I hated getting public transport before I learned to drive. It's selfish people that make it shit for everyone else.

Obviously her screaming would have annoyed me too but it's not a normal reaction is it?

Maybe the bus driver should have removed her but I bet that would have caused delays.

Should have removed them both.

Yeah far easier to scapegoat and demonise some overwrought woman than actually request anything of some entitled male prick whose behaviour was a big fuck you to everybody.

Same old depressingly mundane misogyny. 😔

👆This. Telling too that he was arrogant enough to just carry on with what he was doing with no shame and not giving a shit about anyone else. Far too many noisy fuckers around like that these days.

I would have told HIM to shut up (not the woman).

You've reminded me why I hate public transport. The selfish fuckers, the weird fuckers, the crazy ones.

When I was on a bus to Leeds once, this woman got up at the front (top deck) and squatted down and pissed on the floor. We all just stared. Then the wee just flowed down the bus as we went up a hill.

Another time, someone threw a brick that smashed a window near to where I was sitting. That was on a bus to Bradford from Halifax.

Maybe it's just West Yorkshire! lol.

Frankly OP the fact that you think the man was doing nothing wrong says it all. There seems to be a big rise in people listening to music/news or kids watching iPads without headphones, according to you this is acceptable. It is antisocial and very selfish behaviour.

Imagine if we all did it? Got on the tube and all put our phones on loud with no headphones? So ignorant. Whilst it does sound as if this woman was overly aggressive she was the one in the right calling him out and you should have backed her up!

The man was an absolute entitled prick. In these situations I always think, maybe I should respond by playing the loudest thrash metal I can think of, it’s no different at all.
I detest people who blare out whatever they want without wearing headphones. Shall we all do it?

She sounds like a loon, but he WAS doing something wrong. I don't know why the fuck anyone thinks it's OK to play news/music/their conversation with their auntie about her bunions out loud in public.

It happens when it shouldn’t because people aren’t challenged about their selfish behaviour (usually I imagine because they are scared of the reaction they might get). Imagine if everyone on a bus played something out loud - it would be awful.

However, she shouldn’t have touched him.

Another of my bus stories. A friend of mine was talking to some boys on the bus. When she got up to get off, one of them had tied her very long hair to back of her seat!

She sounds unhinged, but the man shouldn’t have been listening without headphones anyway. They were both wrong IMO.

He shouldn’t have been listening to a video at high volume with no headphones, it’s very antisocial. There are rules about doing this on the train, buses should do something similar.

It's so tempting to get involved when people are being disruptive, but unless something really serious is occurring, I wouldn't do anything. She'd probably have become even more agitated.

Not sure her age is relevant.

Do you honestly think that she didn't have mental health issues?

I don’t think it’s a good idea to encourage antisocial behaviour by just accepting that "it happens" and putting the onus on everyone else to make adjustments to cope with it. It’s like saying "Everyone should accept that some people put their muddy shoes on bus/train seats so we should all carry a sheet of newspaper to sit on to avoid getting our clothes dirty" or "Everyone should accept that some people like to put their bags in the seat next to them, meaning some people can’t sit down, so we should all wear shoes that will be comfortable to stand in for a long time".

Losing your temper isn't having mental health issues.

Well, he was rude to be listening to anything outloud in his phone, Trump or no Trump (I can’t stand him either but that’s by the by)

She of course went massively over the top. Asking him once in a normal voice, fine. Making a huge song and dance, not gone.

You didn’t need to say anything though and I think you were right not to. It would only have escalated things.

It is extremely rude to not use headphones when listening to or watching something on public transport and as such I would probably have made a noise of agreement when she first said something to him.

Sounds like the driver handled it just fine without you escalating things.
If you wanted to be helpful, you should have asked the rude man to use headphones.

No, she absolutely shouldn't have done that - it was disproportionate and illegal. However, we should all politely challenge people who behave in an anti-social way, as this man was. It's ludicrous to suggest that everyone else should wear headphones to block out the noise one person is unnecessarily creating - he should be wearing headphones. It's pathetic to say it's just part of public transport - it isn't, and putting up with it is just condoning anti-social behaviour.

Her behaviour was over the top but there is no excuse for him not wearing headphones. His bad behaviour caused the situation. Not sure why you want to defend him.

What does her age have to.donwith it?

They both sound very annoying to share a bus with.