A man took to Reddit to share his experience when a woman sat right next to him on the bus, but she claimed he was the rude one.
Who do you think was really in the wrong? What are the general bus manners you try to follow? Here are the details to help you decide.
RELATED STORIES
No one wants to sit next to a random stranger if they don’t have to.
When on public transportation, no one really wants to be crammed next to a stranger, especially when there are multiple empty seats to choose from. Sadly, some people don’t seem to get the memo.
Or, maybe people have different ideas about what counts as good manners.
A Redditor wanted advice on his bus-riding experience with a stranger.
In a post on “Am I The A***hole?” a man explained that he rides a bus from work to college that’s usually pretty empty. He prefers to sit alone, so he puts his bag on an empty seat next to him.
While this is pretty rude on a crowded bus, many of us have done the same when the bus isn’t busy.
A woman on the bus wasn’t happy with him taking an extra seat.
While the bus was mostly empty, a woman came up to him and gestured for him to move his bag so she could sit in the seat right next to him.
He wrote, “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.”
He wasn’t happy but kept his cool.
As he continued his story, the Redditor explained that he wanted space after a long day, so he sighed and rolled his eyes. However, he didn’t confront the woman; he just sat next to her in annoyed silence.
What she said next was somewhat shocking.
In response, she confronted him about his manners.
Despite not saying anything to her, the woman told him, “You need to learn some manners.”
This comment didn’t sit right with him, so he got up and moved to another seat to have his own space and get away from the woman.
Who was in the right here?
The Reddit poster said in his post that the interaction bothered him, and he wanted to know who really had bad manners.
Was he in the wrong for putting his bag on the seat? Or, was sitting next to him and getting annoyed worse behavior? After all, there were clearly multiple other seats available.
Most Reddit commenters agreed with him.
The overall consensus was that she was wrong and super rude.
One commenter even gave great advice on how to deal with a similar situation in the future. “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.”
Other commenters shared similar experiences.
Many people had dealt with the same situation and didn’t understand why you wouldn’t pick an empty seat instead of sitting so close to a stranger!
“What is it with people insisting on sitting so close to someone when there’s perfectly fine seats elsewhere, especially in a mostly empty space?!?”
Have you ever had a stranger invade your personal bubble in public?
Navigating public transit or any public space often means dealing with difficult or rude people. Whether it’s someone sitting right next to you on an empty bus or standing too close to you in line for coffee, it’s frustrating when people don’t respect personal space.
Some people just don’t seem to think about others!
