The entitled woman who expected me to give up my son's seat on the bus
By Sissy15
@sissy15 (12269)
United States
November 27, 2020 9:09am CST
Back when my son was about two my husband and I took a bus to see my in-laws it was about a seven-hour bus trip despite only being a three to four-hour car ride. We bought all three of us tickets that way we didn't feel we had to hold our son and we were also able to take an extra bag that way. I believe at that point kids three and under were free but you could choose to purchase a seat and you would also be able to carry extra luggage. We always purchased him a ticket.
My son and I sat in the very back which had three seats and my husband sat in a seat ahead of us with someone else. He figured my son could lay out if he fell asleep that way plus the section of three seats weren't as comfortable as the ones that had two seats and if you had three people it got incredibly uncomfortable.
That said some woman and her teenage son got on the bus and were trying to find a section that had two seats together. She got back to me and asked me to move my then sleeping son so they could sit together telling me that I could hold him which is incredibly difficult to do on a bus which is yet another reason I purchased a seat for him. I told her no. She got sort of snippy and rude but the bus driver yelled at her to find a seat. Her son looked irritated with her and didn't remotely care about sitting with her. She reluctantly sat down in a seat next to someone and her son sat in front of her.
That interaction really irritated me at the time. She gave me an attitude thinking since I had a small child I clearly should have to hold him. I paid for his seat and he was a sleeping toddler. There were enough seats for everyone and even if he wasn't sprawled out there would be one seat available leaving her in the same situation. I would have moved him over had the bus been full and there was only one seat left and one person really needed it but there were several seats still left just not together.
I didn't like that she felt entitled to my son's seat that I paid for. I paid for it for it partly because it made the trip more comfortable. There is no way I was going to go another five hours holding a two-year-old since this was at a stop we had already been on it for two hours which completely wore him out. If I didn't pay for his seat that would be a different story and I understand she didn't know that but she didn't exactly give me a moment to tell her as much. Besides you know what they say about assuming things.
To this day I sort of wish I would have had a few seconds to explain that situation to her to maybe teach her a lesson in assuming things. I paid for his ticket so she wasn't entitled to his seat. I did smugly smile at her when the bus driver yelled at her to either find a seat or get off. The son seemed so relieved to not be sitting next to her I saw him smile as he sat down away from her. Clearly, she probably wasn't the easiest to live with.
This was years ago and I'm mostly over it but I read something that reminded me of that time which brought the memory back and sort of irritated me for a brief second.
4 people like this
4 responses
@marguicha (215187)
• Chile
27 Nov 20
Those people will never understand. Forget it.
2 people like this
@rsa101 (37932)
• Philippines
29 Nov 20
I think she learned her lesson when the bus driver yelled at her to find a new seat. Since you paid for your son’s seat she never have any right to get his seat. I guess it was just right you never engage her and save the trouble of getting into an argument.
1 person likes this
@sissy15 (12269)
• United States
1 Dec 20
I doubt she learned a lesson she was annoyed and just sat down but I don't doubt she'd try to pull something like that again. She probably just assumed that I didn't pay for his ticket which is a stupid assumption to make. I honestly couldn't understand her that well anyway as English wasn't her first language and I couldn't fully understand her accent so arguing with her probably wouldn't have done much good anyway. I heard her ask me to move him for her and her son and I told her no he was sleeping and she got an attitude and then said some stuff I couldn't understand so I don't know if she was cursing me out in her own language or if she was saying something in English I couldn't understand either way it's probably best I didn't understand.
1 person likes this
@sissy15 (12269)
• United States
2 Dec 20
@rsa101 A lot of people here are foreign but they become citizens. I have a lot of friends here that aren't originally from here and I've never seen them be that rude. I get that sometimes we perceive the actions of someone else to be rude when it may not be in their country but yeah in this case it was definitely rude. I know a lot of countries can't stand Americans either because a lot of us can be rude and it makes the rest of us look bad. It's like how I can't stand a lot of college kids because of the way they act when they are here but they aren't all bad. I don't get how people can go somewhere new and then act the way they do. You are a guest in another country, city, state, or wherever and you need to treat the people who actually live there a lot better. I would never have the nerve to go somewhere I'm not from and act like a jerk or a fool and just expect them to cater to me. I know sometimes we unintentionally act rude because we aren't familiar with various customs but other times I feel like there are just certain things that are rude wherever you go but maybe I'm wrong.
1 person likes this
@akalinus (40432)
• United States
27 Nov 20
For whatever reason, people don't appreciate that you bought a child a seat. Airlines are bad with this. Even though you paid for a seat, they want you to hold the child so that some entitled person can sit in the seat you paid for. I'm glad you stuck up for yourself.
1 person likes this
@sissy15 (12269)
• United States
29 Nov 20
I agree but thankfully the bus driver got on her and he wouldn't have made me move. This bus driver could be a massive jerk. We had him a handful of times since we typically took that same bus twice a year for a few years. He was difficult to describe because the man would play with my son during a stop and he was super considerate of my kid but also not. Like he made us sit at the back of the bus because he didn't want to be distracted and he once made comment that he would drop anyone who made any noise child or not off at the side of the road but then at the same time wouldn't allow people to swear loudly with my kid on the bus and made mention that if he caught anyone smoking while there was a child aboard he wouldn't hesitate to kick them off. I mean he was such a strange man who was equally mean and nice. That said he wouldn't have allowed anyone to forcefully make me give up my seat and wake my son especially when I paid for my ticket and that woman's child was old enough to sit on his own in the seat ahead of her since he was practically an adult himself. I'm glad my issue was with the woman who had zero authority over the bus driver who could have tried to make me do something but if he tried I would have talked with Greyhound about it. We had to do that once with him because he was rude. We always sit at the back of the bus anyway out of courtesy but didn't appreciate being told we had to but that wasn't what our complaint was about but we never had another issue with him after the first time. I sort of wonder if he had a bad day that day. Anyway, if I pay for a seat I'm not giving it up to some entitled woman who feels her and her teenage son deserve it more than me and my sleeping toddler. A forty pound kid is a lot to hold while they're sleeping (my son was big for his age). I think people need to be put in their place every so often. I am fairly positive that an airline or bus can't force you to give up a seat you paid for at least not without consequences but I don't put it past them to try.
@sissy15 (12269)
• United States
1 Dec 20
@akalinus I think you're right which is why we contacted greyhound about it and we did get a partial refund. We were given the refund for the return which is when we had him. Our trip there was fine. My son was always good on trips and made less noise than some of the adults on the bus. My son never even cried he actually liked trips the movement always calmed him so it ticked me off that they just assumed he was going to be a monster. If my son had sat in the front he would have been just as quiet. He really was a good traveler. We always preferred the back with him anyway it made things like changing him easier and on the off chance he was going to have a tantrum due to being tired or something we always chose the back just to be courteous but it still ticked me off he told us we had to sit back there. The back was filled on the way there so we had to sit at the front and my son didn't make a peep. I don't really know what the guy's problem was because before we got on the bus he was literally playing with him in the line and yes you will always have entitled people.
1 person likes this
