Tradesman refuses to give up his train seat to a mom and toddler, prioritizing his extra seat for $20,000 of tools as planned: ‘I paid for the space’

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  via Canva+ (Nirian)

  _{Male model posing as a train passenger.} 

• WIBTA for refusing to give up a second seat I paid for to a mother and child

  I am a freelance field engineer and I often have to travel with a very specific rack of testing equippment that is worth about twenty grand. It is heavy and extremely fragile so I never trust the overhead bins or the communal luggage area at the end of the train cars.

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  via Canva+ (Tania Smith)

  _{Male model with a tool belt working on his trade.} 

• People are reckless and I have seen too many expensive rigs get smashed beacause someone tried to cram a heavy suitcase on top of them. To avoid this I always buy two seats next to each other. I pay the full adult fare for both and I use heavy duty straps to secure my Pelican case into the second seat. It is a perfectly legal move and I have never had an issue before.

• Yesterday I was on a four hour trip and about halfway through the train company announced that the previous express service had been cancelled. Our train was already mostly full but now it became a total nightmare. People were standing in the aisles and sitting on their bags in the vestibules.

• A woman carrying a toddler and a bunch of shopping bags came down the aisle and stopped right at my row. She saw the case strapped into the window seat and immediately asked me to move it to the floor so her kid could sit down. I told her no and explained that I had paid for that seat specifically to transport my tools safely.

• She did not take it well. She started getting loud and saying that it is just a box and her child is a human being who is tired. I told her that I understand but I am not going to risk twenty thousand dollars of specialized gear getting kicked or knocked over in the aisle just beacause the train company overbooked the ride.

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  via Canva+ (Andresr)

  _{Model and her son depicting what it's like to take the train in the summer.} 

• Truth be told, this woman is a complete stranger to him. While she was clearly struggling with her bags and her toddler, this man didn't owe her much of anything. Why should he be expected to risk the safety and wellbeing of tools that put bread on the table every month simply because she didn't plan ahead? Oftentimes, parents are in a position to accept their fate gracefully, but in this case, she decided to act entitled and have a bad attitude. It's all about her response to his refusal that reveals how she expects the world to treat her, and therefore, the exact situations that led to her eventual entitlement.

  Life isn't always catered in your favor, ma'am. It's best to learn that lesson before you board a train… 

• She called the conductor over and tried to get him to force me to move the case. I just handed him both of my tickets. He looked at them and told the woman that since I had paid for the space there was nothing he could do. He even told her she should have booked earlier if she wanted a guaranteed seat.

• The rest of the trip was incredibly awkward. The woman ended up sitting on the floor in the aisle right next to my legs and she kept making passive aggressive comments to the people around her about how selfish some people are. A guy sitting across from us kept glaring at me like I was a criminal. I just put my headphones on and tried to ignore it but I could feel the heat of the entire car judging me.

• My girlfriend thinks I should have just held the sixty pound case on my lap for the rest of the journey to avoid the drama but I honestly dont think I should have to sacrafice my comfort or safety when I followed all the rules. It was a miserable experience but my gear stayed intact.

  via Locket_7NZ

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