In a society where we cling to the comforting thought that rules ensure fairness and apply to everybody (just me?), one train passenger's recent experience shatters the illusion that you always get what you pay for.
Picture this: You've masterfully booked a coveted forward-facing table seat with a plug socket on the train. You're all set to unwind on your journey on the rails. You step onto carriage F, expecting a sigh of relief as you see your comfy seat waiting for you — only to find that life, as it often does, has other plans.
One traveler took to Reddit to narrate their plight, which begins like most train stories do: "I was travelling from Edinburgh to London by train and had a booked window seat with a table."
The Redditor boards the train only to find a group of four men sitting at the table seats - one of whom was sat in their pre-booked seat. "The one in my seat that was clearly marked as booked, refused to move as he was with his friends and the train was packed," the post recalls.
As somebody who has experienced this classic usurping of someone else's right for one's convenience, I can sympathize.
Here's where things go from unfortunate to unbelievable. According to the passenger: "The ticket collector passed and I asked him to help. He asked the guy to move but he refused and somehow that was that." Yes, you read that right. The authority figure, whose job it is to make sure things run smoothly, said: "'You can find another seat but I have no power to move him, only the police can move him and they will not turn up just to move someone out of a seat.'"
Faced with a full carriage and the prospect of standing all the way to London, the passenger took matters into their own hands. If you can't beat them, join them. Only, he didn't join the four mean, he told the ticket inspector that he was going to join those sitting in first class.
In their Reddit post, they highlighted how first class was so much more appealing due to its "better surroundings, power sockets, and free tea and coffee".
The ticket inspector, of course, then told them: "You can't sit there, you don't have a booking." Ah, but here's where our hero had the last word. "Well, you could call the police to move me, but apparently they won't turn out to move someone out of a seat," they told the ticket inspector.
"I had a lovely trip with power for my laptop and a wide comfy seat," the post concluded.
The post clearly hit a nerve with the Reddit community, as it has since received more than 60,000 upvotes and hundreds of comments praising the OP.
"Revenge AND free tea?! This is what dreams are made of," one person commented, with another Redditor adding: "Thanks for educating me that I can juts sit in first class any time and nobody can force me to move."
