A tired worker on their way home from work was woken by a mum who demanded they give up their seat for her family on a “near empty” train. The worker, who had been “dozing” due to a headache, refused the request, leading to a heated exchange and a lively Reddit debate.
An 'entitled' request on a quiet train
The mum approached the sleeping passenger and said: “We are a family and we want to sit here, please move over there.” She pointed to a “seat facing backwards.” The worker was baffled, noting the train was “near empty,” meaning the family had plenty of seating options.
The worker replied: “No, I’m not moving as [I] was asleep and feel unwell - there’s plenty of seats.” The mum insisted she wanted the worker’s “section as a family,” but the passenger held firm, saying unless she had “booked the carriage privately,” they would not move. The mum then said: “Okay, it’s fine, you stay there.”
Reddit users weigh in
After sharing the story on Reddit, the worker concluded: “Like I need your permission,” adding a crying laughing face. Commenters were quick to brand the mum “entitled.” One said: “Some parents with dominance over their own family members come to believe that dominance extends to the general public. It does not.”
Another replied: “The ‘you can sit there’ is part of this also. Softens the blow to the ego by convincing themselves they're granting this person the permission to do the thing they just told them not to.” A third commented: “If she woke me up, I would’ve been livid! And there’s no way I would’ve given up my seat.”
Divergent views on seating etiquette
Another user suggested the mum’s final remark was a “power trip,” saying: “That last thing she said is about her telling you what to do, and you doing it. Power trip. She said that to satisfy, in her own mind, that you were submissive to her order.”
However, one commenter offered a different perspective, asking whether the worker was sitting in a four-person seating area. They wrote: “See I need to know if you were sitting in one of the four person seats where two sets of seats face each other. If so then you're the entitled person. It drives me CRAZY to see a single person taking a four seater area, especially in a nearly empty train when there’s plenty of two person seats available. Those sections are clearly designed for people who are traveling together.”
