Since Agatha Christie's 'Murder On the Orient Express', trains have always been the scene of drama of varying degrees of complexity and intricacy. Passengers quarrel with each other, with conductors and employees of the railway, accuse each other of lacking tickets - and then just vent about it on the internet.
If you have small children, you probably know what a nightmare a long train journey can be - not only for you, but for other passengers as well. If not - well, then this story may also be of interest to you.
The original post, published on the AITA Reddit community, received over 7.1K upvotes and approximately 3K various comments, with almost all of the authors unanimous in their opinion. But what was this opinion - now we'll just find out.
More info: Reddit
The Original Poster and her two kids went for a train journey to visit her uncle for New Year's Eve
Image credits: Pablo Nieto Abad (not the actual image)
So, the OP is the mother of two, a 7 Y.O. girl and a 4 Y.O. boy. At Christmas, she was unable to visit her uncle, who was suffering from cancer, so she decided to visit him on New Year's Eve. Mom and children took COVID tests to make sure that their arrival would not be dangerous for a man with his disease, and at the last moment, it turned out that all three were healthy.
Image credits: u/Trainnightmare
The OP had to buy tickets literally at the last moment so they didn't manage to reserve any particular seats
Due to the fact that they had to wait for the test results, and the OP was not sure until the last moment whether they would be able to go, they had to buy train tickets right before the journey - so it was not possible to reserve any specific seats. The mother and children got on the train - they had almost seven hours to ride, so she wanted the children to sit next to her.
Image credits: u/Trainnightmare
There were not many people in the car, but it was impossible to find three seats side by side, except for the seats marked as reserved. Since no one was sitting there, the woman decided to settle down in these places, and in case their owners appeared, to just try to negotiate with them somehow.
Image credits: u/Trainnightmare
Finally the man showed up who appeared to be the owner of the seat occupied by the OP's daughter
Time passed, the train continued, new passengers gradually appeared, and so gradually the car was almost full. Finally, after a few hours of riding, a man appeared, apparently trying to find his seat. As the OP says, he rather rudely demanded that the passengers move back, showing him the seat numbers, but was looking for one.
Image credits: Janusz Jakubowsi (not the actual image)
Mom asked the man to take another seat, but he refused in rather rude words
Finally, the angry passenger reached the OP with her children, and it turned out that the OP's daughter was already sitting in his reserved seat. Just as angrily, the man demanded that the girl make room for him, but the mother, indignant at the tone of his voice, ordered her daughter to stay where she was.
Image credits: u/Trainnightmare
As a result of the argument, the OP tried to explain that her children were tired and suggested that the man take some other free seat. The passenger did not agree, stating that he specifically paid for this particular seat. A few minutes later he left, and the OP already decided that the conflict was over - but no such luck!
Image credits: u/Trainnightmare
The angry passenger ended up being dropped off at the nearest station
The passenger returned with a member of the staff, and claimed that the OP actually stole his seat. Apparently, the railway employee was a bit shocked by such a tone of voice as well, so she also invited the man to take any empty seat. He was again outraged, arguing that children could not be above the law, and was ordered to exit the train at the next station.
Image credits: u/Trainnightmare
The OP continued on her way, and her children were also shocked by this conflict. In her own words, she is not sure if she did the right thing - and the opinions of her relatives about this situation were split.
Image credits: Susan Jane Golding (not the actual image)
Most of the people in the comments told the OP that she was wrong and even was teaching her kids to be entitled
But the people in the comments had only one opinion - the passenger paid for his seat, so the OP was supposed to give it to him, as the rules are the same for everyone. The commenters were surprised - after all, if, according to the OP, the car was not full at the beginning of their trip, why did she and the children necessarily take the reserved seats?
Some commenters have gone even further, claiming that she is harming her own children with her behavior, clearly teaching them to be entitled. In any case, even if the passenger agreed with the OP and moved to an empty seat, then an incident could occur with another person who might have also booked this other seat.
We, for our part, really want to know your opinion about this story, so feel free to write about it in the comments. And if you've been a part of train drama too, we'd like to know your own tale!