Picture used for illustrative purpose only.

Gulf Today Report

Normally, when we commute by train or bus, and if a differently-abled or an elderly person needs a seat to be comfortable, a good number of us would give up our seat for him or her.

But one woman stood her ground, refusing to relinquish her seat to an elderly woman on a seven-hour train ride from London to Aberdeen, Scotland. She was praised by social media users over the move.

The woman had booked her seat in the first class compartment well in advance. She narrated her experience in a post with the title ‘AITA (Am I the A**hole) for not moving from my booked seat for an elderly person?’

The woman had some office work to do during her journey, and she wanted to be comfortable while working on her laptop, so she decided to ‘treat herself’ to a ride in first class.

Incidentally, the seat was a priority seat, meant for those who are unable to stand, such as the people of determination and the elderly. Soon after she sat down, a woman who appeared to be in her sixties approached her and “quite rudely” told her to move out so she could sit down, according to the Independent.

She was told the seat was booked and she had to speak to a member of the railway staff to help her find one.

The elderly woman said the train was full. The lady with the seat apologised but said she wasn’t moving.

A train guard then intervened and asked both of them if they would like to move to standard class, an idea which the woman who had booked the first class seat refused to entertain.

She received 1,500 comments on her Reddit thread.

Many users came out in support of the woman’s post, voting her “NTA (not the a***hle)”, and even more blamed the train company for the incident.

One said: "The train company are the a**holes here. They sold the disability seats as the most expensive seats on the train. Those seats should never be sold unless the occupier is disabled. That’s on the train operator. It’s not on you."

Another said: “Without even looking, I knew you were female, as am I. Single female travellers are always asked to give up seats in such situations. Yes, I know that the elderly person was also female, but that doesn’t signify.”