A Bus Seat Showdown: The Entitled Commuter vs. The Linen Bag Warrior
Ah, public transportation. The great equalizer. A place where the complexities of human nature and the mysteries of human behavior are on full display for the world to see. Our story today is inspired by a real-life r/AmITheAsshole Reddit post, and believe me, it’s a doozy. Buckle up, grab some popcorn, and let’s dive into this thrilling episode of “Who’s the Asshole?”
Our protagonist, a hard-working individual, takes a bus from their workplace to college. Picture this: a sparsely occupied bus, the kind where tumbleweeds wouldn’t be out of place rolling down the aisle. So many empty seats, it’s almost a luxury liner. Our hero uses a light linen bag for work, and to avoid any unnecessary physical interaction with grime (or God knows what), they place it on the seat next to them. Sensible, right?
Enter the antagonist of our story, a lady with an apparent score to settle. Despite the unoccupied ocean of seats, she approaches our bag-bearing hero with a menacing look that could peel paint. She gestures for the bag to be removed like she’s some kind of bus royalty. Our hero, being discernibly non-confrontational, reluctantly moves the bag. And with the melodrama only seen in Shakespearean plays, the lady lowers herself onto the now-empty seat.
But that isn’t where the drama ends. No, friends, this is where it begins. Exhausted from eight excruciating hours of work, our protagonist dared to roll their eyes and sigh—signs of human frailty! This earns them a gold star in body language annoyance, but wait! The lady, brimming with undeserved self-righteousness, turns and declares, “You need to learn some manners.” Oh, the irony! It’s rich. It’s like a decadent slice of tiramisu delivered straight to your taste buds.
Needless to say, our hero, now seething with irritation, relocates to another seat. And while the immediate drama dies down much like a deflated balloon, this event botheringly lingers in their mind. Did they indeed lack manners? Was the lady doing the public a grand service by teaching bus etiquette lessons unprompted?
Let’s take a beat here, shall we? Strutting onto an almost-empty bus and insisting on occupying the seat next to the one other passenger is behavior that defies not just logic, but basic social norms. In a bus where seats are as abundant as New Year’s resolutions, anyone with a molecule of conscience would opt for a different pair of seats. Maybe, just maybe, this lady was trying to make some sort of twisted point opining on modern decorum. Newsflash, Karen: passive-aggressive seating choices don’t make you Emily Post.
And what’s with calling them out for a lack of manners? Honey, have you met you? Coming in hot with demands and then a drive-by moral compass checking? Bold. Very bold. Allow me to award you an Olympic gold medal in theatrical audacity. Our hero should have shot back with “Maybe I’ll learn some manners when you learn to mind your own business.” But alas, people like Karen aren’t worth the energy drain of a proper roasting.
So, what’s the takeaway from this public transportation saga? When serenity is a viable option, why choose confrontation? When you have the freedom to occupy an unaffected zone, why elbow your way into someone else’s personal bubble? Our beloved internet op, if you’re reading this, rest easy. You’re not lacking manners; if anything, you’re a model of patience.
In the grand symposium of public transport etiquette, nobody crowned this woman “Queen of Seat Allocation.” Please, people, if you’re in dire need of judgment, seek it somewhere meaningful, like the cereal aisle where someone’s grabbed the last box of Cinnamon Toast Crunch.
Roger’s Final Judgment: Come on now, do better, public transport warriors. Recognize the house rules of the mobile chariot and act accordingly. And for those wielding self-righteous comments as weapons, save your energy. We salute you, oh action-less warrior, for prioritizing your sanity and relocating. A+ for handling it without tossing the bag out the window—which really, would have been my next move.
Until next time, remember: buses are for transporting people, not egos!
Original story
I ride a pretty sparsely ridden bus from my work to my college. When I say sparse, I mean it’s never even close to half full.
There are always rows of empty seats at the time that I ride it in the afternoon.
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). I don’t mind anyone sitting next to me, but the bus is never close to full, so I use the space for my bag.
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.
I sort of rolled my eyes when she sat down next to me and sighed, not to be obvious, but just because I got off an 8 hour shift, I was tired and wanted my own space, and SHE DIDNT HAVE TO SIT NEXT TO ME. She clearly noticed – she then said “You need to learn some manners.
”
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…