It can be really uncomfortable when someone random sits next to you on public transport, especially when it’s completely empty, and that’s exactly what one man has taken to Reddit to discuss
It’s common knowledge socially that if you’re on a form of public transport and it’s empty, you don’t sit next to someone.
And if you’re on an empty bus and you’ve got a bag with you, you might plonk it on the seat next to you and think nothing of it. But one woman decided to teach a man who did that a lesson, by sitting next to him on an empty bus.
“I use a light linen bag for work and I don’t want to put it on the floor or on my lap so I put it on the seat next to me (all the seats are pairs, two seats next to each other),” he explained on Reddit’s ‘Am I The A**hole’ forum.
The man said he doesn’t “mind anyone sitting next to me, but the bus is never close to full” so he uses the space next to him for his bag so as not to ruin it.
However, things became awkward on a recent commute. He wrote: “Yesterday during my commute, a lady got on the bus and grimaced at me. She gestured for me to remove my bag so she could sit next to me.
“As usual, there were so many empty seats. I wasn’t sitting in a disabled/reserved area – there were seats closer to the door. But whatever, I’m not confrontational, I removed my bag so she could sit.”
The man then admitted that he “rolled his eyes” when she sat down, and “sighed”, because he didn’t want to be “obvious”. “I got off an 8-hour shift, I was tired and wanted my own space, and SHE DIDN’T HAVE TO SIT NEXT TO ME,” he fumed.
She noticed, and gave him a six-word dressing down: “You need to learn some manners.”
The man finished his post by writing: “After that, I got up and moved to another seat, but the whole thing has been bothering me for a day. Did I really lack manners? It just feels like she sat there to teach me a lesson when she could’ve sat anywhere else…”
In the comments, people were quick to point out that he’d not done anything wrong, with one writing: “Not the a**hole. Bag in seat > No intention of moving it > Empty seats all over the bus = Find your a** somewhere else to sit and leave other people alone […]. It was very inconsiderate for that lady to intentionally invade your personal space and demand she sit next to you.
“Yes, this is a public space and setting so most of the time there isn’t enough space to be left personally to yourself. The only one lacking manners and common courtesy was her and not you.”
Someone else encouraged: “If it happens again, just say, ‘Sure’, stand up, grab your bag, and find another seat. Especially if they passed empty seats to get to your adjacent empty seat.” Another wrote: “The lady was trying to be difficult by the sounds of it. You did nothing wrong.”
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