A woman has explained why she refused to give up her seat on a train for children when asked by their mother. Most people are more than happy to give up their seat for someone who needs it more on a rammed train - especially the elderly, those with disabilities or others with mobility problems.
However, it's claimed this mum felt it was more important for children to have a seat than a passenger who'd recently had shoulder surgery and found it "too painful to stand". The woman admitted she may not "look injured" because she was no longer in a sling but tried to explain to the mum why she needed the seat.
Despite this, she said the mum repeatedly demanded she move so that all three of her children - who were thought to be at least 10 years old - could sit down. The woman shared the experience online as she asked for advice on whether it was unreasonable of her to not want to move.
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In a post on popular parenting forum Mumsnet, she explained the encounter happened on her way back from visiting her dad, so she had multiple bags with her. She wrote: "I've got my backpack on the table and my big bag was put up on the top by a lovely man who offered to put it up.
"We get to the next station and it’s absolutely heaving and a mother with three kids gets on. Everyone files into seats and someone sits opposite me. She then approaches and asks if the other 2 seats are reserved. I said no and she could have them and sat the kids down.
"She then looks and me and says, 'I've got 3 children who need a seat please can they have yours'. I said 'no I've recently had shoulder surgery and still recovering so standing on a packed train would be too painful'. She then continually said 'I have 3 kids though'."
The anonymous woman continued: "At this point I said 'I'm not particularly bothered by the amount of kids you have but I will be staying in this seat as I need it too, if you have any issues please go speak to the train conductor'. The look she gave me could kill!"
She concluded her post by adding: "The original guy who put my bag in the overhead rack ended up telling her to leave me alone as she kept repeating about her 3 kids. I feel like a cow bag but a justified one!"
Many people took her side as they slammed the "cheeky" and "rude" mum, with the post receiving hundreds of replies. One wrote: "You were absolutely in the right. Really cheeky to ask you to move."
Another commented: "There’s no reason why you should need to move in that scenario. Unless they’re little kids then kids are more able to stand than adults and if all three were little (under 5 for example) I’m sure they could have shared."
Someone else said: "Cheeky mare. Especially since you told her that you are recovering from surgery." A fourth posted: "Absolutely rude of her" and another added: "You were there first, her number of kids is not your problem."
Others commented that when they were growing up, kids always stood on public transport if adults needed a seat. After reading the replies, the woman said she feels "a bit better about it" and clarified that there was no option to book seats on the train, adding that the children all looked around 10 or older.
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