Why do solo train users take a table for 4?

[Badbadbunny]

Why do solo train users take a table for 4 and then huff and puff when a couple or family join them? Just on a train with lots of empty twosome seats but only one table for 4 free and a single woman takes it, and made a big fuss about moving her bags off the seat and clearing the rest of the table after she put loads of stuff on it when a family of 4 came on with one of them having to sit elsewhere.

I do this because I want a table. I’d ‘let’ others sit with me though

I feel like there wouldn't be expectation on a single person to move from a two-person seat if two people got on the train together and there was a lack of seats. So there's no difference.

Oh, my goodness. Learned this on the Eurostar. Leaning forward on the table. Then at a later stop, a lady entered, obviously well acquainted with the train. She pulled something at the edge of the table facing her. If my mouth didn’t gape open as I saw this magic and realised I needn’t have been hunched forward all that time.

Why does a family of 4 need a table? The single person is more likely to be working and in need of the table.

To travel solo and take a table = not wrong
To travel solo, take a table and huff and puff when others join = wrong

Pointless question?

I wouldn’t mind people joining me and wouldn’t put my stuff on a seat but I’m as entitled to a table as anyone else. We all pay the same price (unless you have a discounted rail card before I get quoted a million times).

Because they want a table and are entitled to sit wherever they want. Obviously their bags shouldn’t be obstructing access to the other seats.

I like sitting at a table so I would, but I would be ok if joined by others.
I would probably move for a family with children to sit together if the train wasn't busy.

Not as bad as when people take up seats not reserved for them and then have a fit when you have to ask them to move.

I feel a bit claustrophobic in airline-style train seats. I also like to have a table to put my iPad/book/any food or drinks on (some trains don't even have a pull-down table.
I never huff and puff though, and I put bags and coats etc at my feet or in the racks, and keep to my quarter of the table.

Booked seat, Trainline just allocate one.
If I’m working on laptop space is better.
More pleasant less hemmed in.
I’ll sit with others though.

Because I have a reserved seat and that is where it is.

I mean I don't, so probably not everyone...

Im disabled. It easier for me to sit at a table seat on my “right” side and put my leg in a comfortable position than it is to sit in an airline style seat.

I don’t huff and puff though.

Glad to know people think im selfish though.

I avoid the table seats when I’m on my own for this reason. I can’t understand why they sit there.

I mean the family could also have taken 2 x 2 seaters instead of leaving 1 person sit alone (obviously the woman shouldn't complain if somebody site with her though, she only paid for 1 seat like everyone else

She probably booked it so she could work and have a bit of space. Anyone can book a table seat. The family could have booked a table if they'd been bothered to do so. Otherwise, they shouldn't complain.

Families are invariably noisier and more disruptive on trains than single passengers. So don't start talking about selfishness.

Look, if you sit at a table of 4 on your lonesome and get pissed of when someone else joins you then you are a truly selfish person indeed.

Same if you intentionally put you bag on the seat next to you to stop another human sitting there.

Such a cold, souless way of existing.

Exactly. Families seem to think they have priority. I’d move for a family with young children, but I don’t have to.

I'll sit where I want to sit. Why should the fact they are a family trump my preferences? And yes, when I sit at a table I am often travelling for work and using my laptop. There is more room than an airline pull down table especially if I need to eat or drink coffee on the journey as well.

I find it easier due to having a non-fully functioning leg and needing two hip replacements and a knee replacement. I can lean on a table to get up and down in a way I can’t on a folding tray table for a start.

..because they want a table? Why should a group get a table, but not someone on their own? They might still want to do some work, or have something to lean on etc.

Sometimes you don't actually know where you have been allocated until you get on the train.

Because families don't take priority over an individual and nor should they. What if that person never has a family - heaven forbid they should ever get a table on a train eh.

FWIW I typically travel solo on trains and wouldn't do this. However, it's pretty entitled to think people shouldn't have that choice.

If you're travelling as a family of 4 you should book the table seat in advance rather than take your chances on the day if it is important to you.