to be horrified by an old man on the bus hitting me on the back with a newspaper?

[Sarimillie]

I was on a busy bus this afternoon with my two small children. We were standing in the aisle, and moving aside to let people by. At one stop we obviously weren't moving fast enough for one old man, who shouted 'move!' and whacked me on the back with his newspaper. It didn't hurt, but I was gobsmacked. Fortunately I had the presence of mind to tell him that he shouldn't hit people, and that he was extraordinarily rude - but I still feel astonished. Am I overreacting?

no, I would be shocked and pretty outraged. Not sure I would've had the presence of mind to say anything other than 'do that again and I'll shove it up your jacksy'.

Well done you for not lowering yourself.

YANBU,

How rude of him. Glad you told him off, how did he react to that?

No - YANBU at all!

In his defence, I suppose he could be without his full quota of marbles if he was very old, but that must have been horrible for you.

What a rude, horrible man but agree with Paologirl maybe he was loosing his marbles!

You lot are lovely - I feel better already. He blustered a bit when I told him off, but not very coherently. TBH, Huw, I like the sound of your response better than mine! Tho having my toddler and preschooler with me did inhibit me slightly. My son was very protective of me, which was sweet.

I suppose the lack of coherence would fit with marble loss, thinking about it...

even so Sari, could be perilous for him if he'd picked a druggie or something, so you were right to say something - hope it tempers his behaviour.

He is lucky you didn't hit him back!

Yes, it was very rude, but it's the stuff of life, tbh.

Old men have been doing that since time immemorial. I reckon there are worse things to be shocked about. He's probably suffering from early dementia, which can make people very aggressive.

Message withdrawn

That all makes sense - thanks guys!

Yeah

There are always weirdos about, Sar. You dealt with it in the right way. Hopefully you gave his addled brain a moment's pause to think.

And talk to your kids about what happened. It's the sort of memory that will stay with them, so perhaps take the time to explain that sometimes, when people get very old, and very bored, they get unkind.

It might be a nice spring-board against the lassitude of boredom that kids suffer

'Hey, kid! This is what could happen if you don't take an interest in the world ....'