A woman has been left feeling uncomfortable after a man approached her on a nearly empty train and repeatedly asked her to move her bag from a seat, even following her to another carriage.
The Incident
The passenger, in her 30s, was travelling on a train with only five or six other travellers in the carriage. She had claimed a four-seater table, spreading out her possessions and settling in comfortably. A man, believed to be in his 50s, approached her and demanded she remove her bag from the seat.
Irritated by his conduct, she gathered her belongings and relocated to another four-seater section, placing her bag on an adjacent seat once more. She was stunned when the man followed her, repeating his peculiar demand.
Writing on Reddit, the unsettled traveller explained: "Before I could even get my shoes off, the dude was standing in front of me and said, 'move your bag'. I asked why." He said that he wanted to sit there. She answered that he had been wanting that certain seat that she vacated for him, so she didn't see why he would want to switch seats.
He scoffed and explained that it was not about the specific seat but about 'entitled people who think their bags deserve a seat'. She told him that she moved once for him and wouldn't move again.
"He made a movement as if he wanted to grab my bag and I raised my voice saying 'don't you f****** dare!' He started lamenting about entitled people again. I told him 'I moved for you. There are hundreds of free seats on this train, sit somewhere else.'"
At that moment, the frustrated man abandoned his efforts and headed back to his seat, where he started loudly moaning about 'entitled b******' in what she suspects may well have been a staged phone conversation.
Public Reaction
Seeking opinions from fellow Reddit users, she clarified: "To be clear, when a train fills up, I of course gather my stuff and vacate seats around me so that others can sit. But I don't see why I should let some rando boss me around and invade my personal space for no reason."
The overwhelming majority sided firmly with the woman, with numerous people suggesting he wouldn't have pursued a male passenger around the carriage in such a fashion.
One commenter wrote: "This guy is a creeper and looking to cause trouble with you, a woman. Good for you not putting up with it."
Another remarked: "If the train was half-empty, it's not his business what you do. After you moved and he followed you, he escalated the situation, and frankly, he behaved like a certified creep. The move to grab your bag was a big no-no."
"Good thing you raised your voice: too often women are inculcated by society to be quiet, to be nice, not to cause a scene," added a third.
