A train passenger has taken to Reddit to question whether they were right to not give up their seat for an elderly woman.
We all know that offering the elderly and vulnerable a seat on public transport is a nice thing to do. But in some circumstances, it's also important to make sure you are getting what you paid for.
One Redditor found themselves in a moral conundrum while traveling from London to Scotland on a seven-hour train journey.
Despite booking her seat in advance, the 32-year-old Redditor was asked "rudely" if she would give up her chair to an older passenger.
In a lengthy post on Reddit's "Am I The A**hole" forum, the woman explained: "I booked myself a first-class seat well in advance."
She went on to say that - while the ticket was expensive - she decided to "treat" herself because she was returning from a tiring work trip and she needed space to work during the journey.
However, it was only when she boarded the train in London that the woman realized she had been assigned a "priority seat".
"'Priority seats' are the ones at the end of carriages for people with mobility issues due to age or disability etc," she explained, before recalling what happened next.
"A woman got on after me who was around sixty-years old and pointed at the sign above my head and, quite rudely, told me to move because she was elderly," the Redditor wrote.
"I told her I'd booked the seat and she'd need to speak to a member of staff to find her one. She pointed out that the train was full (even first class was full) and there were no other seats. I apologized but reiterated that I'd booked the seat and wasn't going to move," she continued.
When a train guard came over, it came to light that the old woman's ticket entitled her to travel on the train - but did not guarantee her a seat.
"[The guard] asked if either of us would consider moving to standard class if he could find us a seat. I again refused, explaining I'd booked the seat well in advance and that I needed it. He asked if anyone in the rest of first class would mind changing and no one agreed. Eventually he took the woman to standard class and I assume found her a seat there," she wrote.
Before putting the question to the forum, the woman added that she did feel guilty - but that "I also don't think I needed to put myself in severe discomfort because someone else didn't think ahead and reserve a seat."
Many people agreed with her and even praised her for not being bullied out of her chair.
"NTA [Not the a**hole]," one wrote, adding: "The woman was for thinking she was entitled to your reserved seat though. Elderly or not, you paid in advance and shouldn't have to move just because she showed up."
"The train company is definitely TA here for allowing this situation to happen," another agreed.
"It’s up to train staff to sort it out at that stage. Plus she could have booked a seat herself. And 60 isn’t exactly ancient," commented a third.
