Mother Demands That Train Passenger Give Up Her Seat Because She 'Has Kids'

Kids are not an entitlement for special treatment.

By Megan Quinn — Written on Feb 26, 2023

Photo: Yulia Grigoryeva / Shutterstock

A woman who was recovering from surgery was surprised when she was approached by another woman while riding the train and asked to give up her seat.

When the woman refused, her fellow passenger protested that her children needed a place to sit.

Now the woman is wondering if she was within her rights to keep her seat instead of giving it up.

The woman was asked to give up her seat by another woman who said she ‘has kids’ and therefore deserved the seat more than she did.

Sharing her story to the U.K.-based parenting forum, Mumsnet, the woman sought the advice of other users, asking them if she should’ve sacrificed her seat.

She began her post by revealing that she was seated at a table seat on a train while traveling back home from visiting her father. She recently had shoulder surgery and was adjusting to being out of a sling.

The woman placed her backpack on the table and a fellow passenger placed her suitcase in the overhead compartment since she was unable to lift it herself.

The trip was going well until they reached a station and a mother boarded with her three children.

Passengers packed into the already crowded train, and one of them seated themselves directly across from the woman at the table. She was then approached by the mother.

“She then approaches and asks if the other two seats are reserved. I said no and she could have them and sat the kids down,” the woman wrote.

However, the mother was not yet satisfied with the seating arrangements. “She then looks and me and say says, 'I’ve got three children who need a seat please can they have yours?'”

When the woman declined and explained that she just had surgery and standing on a train would be too painful for her, the mother repeatedly argued, “I have three kids though.”

“At this point, I said ‘I’m not particularly bothered by the amount of kids you have but I will be staying in this seat as I need it too if you have any issues please go speak to the train conductor,” the woman wrote. “The look she gave me could kill!”

The man who placed the woman’s suitcase in the overhead compartment eventually told the mother to leave the woman alone when she continued to gripe about how she had three kids.

Still, the woman is asking others if her decision was justified.

Forum users sided with the woman and believed that the mother was wrong for expecting her to give up her seat.

“You were there first, her number of kids is not your problem,” one user commented.

“I'd laugh at her. Absolutely no reason a child can't stand for a bit. People get on and off trains all the time, there would probably be seats available by the next stop,” another user pointed out.