It seems like people not wanting to sit in their seats on public transport and then fighting over it is something innate to us humans.
Likely, even in ancient Rome, people would argue about seating: “Ah, Scylla Scipio, but that is my seat on the chariot,” “Ah, alas, Marinus Asiagenus, I got here first,” and so on.
In today’s story, a TikToker by the name of mr_boris_becker just wanted the seat he paid for, while some lady tried to shoo him off, with other commuters even supporting her.
More info: TikTok
Taking the train can be tiring enough without other passengers bugging you
Image credits: mr_boris_becker
Boris's train trip was rudely interrupted before even beginning, as another lady had occupied the seat he paid for
Image credits: @mr_boris_becker
The woman tried talking back, but Boris wasn't gonna back down, saying "It’s gonna be difficult, my place is 103 and I need my place"
Image credits: @mr_boris_becker
Another lady jumped in, attempting to defend the passenger, but Boris wasn't having it: "Yeah, but you know, calm down," and she finally vacated his seat
Image credits: @mr_boris_becker
Watch the original video here:
The lady seemed very passive-aggressive throughout, awkwardly laughing about the situation
Boris arrived to his seat, #103, but the lady already sitting there tried pointing out other available seats. He didn’t back down and got her out of his seat, with her smiling awkwardly and being slightly passive-aggressive.
Another woman jumped in to defend the passenger, saying “but you know, you are not alone,” as part of the defense, but we’re still unsure as to what that means exactly.
You’ve probably heard lots of stories about seat disputes, no matter the mode of transport - planes, trains, or automobiles - none are safe. On planes, people want the coveted window seat for the scenic views outside or the aisle seat for some more legroom.
Trains - people want to sit with their friends, even if they haven’t purchased a ticket together. Other times they just plop down wherever, without checking what their seat actually is. On buses, people are usually just fighting for a seat, any seat, doesn’t matter. A lot of the time, there are priority seats for disabled, elderly, pregnant persons and children. An interesting fact is that priority seats are also meant for Buddhist monks in Thailand. Also of note is that in Australia, if people put their feet on seats without a valid reason, they may be fined from $100 to $1100.
Image credits: Pixabay
Despite all those guides out there, the best thing you can do is politely ask the person to move - if they don’t, be insistent, but never aggressive. If that doesn’t work, simply get an attendant, show your ticket to them and they’ll likely be happy to assist you.
You may get some evil glares or backtalk, but just put your earphones in and pay no heed to them - after all, you’re in the right.
Even though they may be right, people are still likely to be overly polite and not give up their seat. This is especially true of the British, who have a notorious reputation of being courteous of others.
In one case, in the British Problems community on Reddit, a person said “Someone is sitting in my reserved train seat. It's not like I can say anything.” Lots of people shared stories about their seats being taken, but them being too polite to say anything.
Others joke “I believe it is acceptable to sit on them,” clarifying they’d never do anything of the sort and would rather sit in some cramped compartment.
Boris’s video received more than 9 million views, with almost 450k likes and 8.5k comments supporting him. People showed support for him while making fun of the lady occupying the seat and her defender. Most simply could not believe the audacity of the woman, suggesting that he should sit somewhere else and occupying his seat.
Comments supported Boris and especially roasted the woman that jumped in to defend the passenger
