Woman called AH for trolling passenger on the quiet car. 'I didn’t touch him.'

The quiet car is a sacred space. You pay extra for some peace of mind, so if someone refuses to use headphones on a video — how far are you allowed to go for retribution and justice? On Reddit, two friends are debating that very question. OP writes:

'AITA for invading someone’s personal space?'

Not a serious or life altering situation. For context, I (33f) live in the UK. We have quiet sections on trains and I booked my ticket specifically so I could do work on a table in the quiet section on my laptop. My friend Lea (34f) sat opposite me.

A man (40s/50s) was sat next to me and about 15 minutes into the journey, starts watching Friends out loud on his iPad. I put my headphones in but it was loud enough that I could still hear it.

My friend and the person sat next to her were just giving him dirty looks, but he was oblivious and munching away on his sandwich.

So I said: “Excuse me, would you mind turning that down just a little bit, please?” He said no. Literally one word, no. Then I mentioned that it was the quiet section of the train and he laughed at me and said, “are you go gonna tell on me?”

It was so bizarre and annoying, but my friend just gestured for me to stay calm and leave it. So I closed my laptop and started watching with him. And commenting.

“Omg I love this bit!” “Watch the next part, it’s soooooo funny.” “Oh, is this the one where X happens?” I’m not a massive Friends fan but I know enough to get by.

He didn’t respond, just kept giving me irritated looks. But I kept going. He moved the iPad from the table to his lap, without turning the volume lower at any point.

So I just carried on peering over his shoulder and commenting. He finally slammed the iPad case shut, grabbed his backpack and walked off, presumably to find another seat on the train.

I opened my laptop and carried on working. After we got off, Lea said I should’ve just left it and not reacted to him, but it was a 4hr journey and I had a lot to do. I paid extra to get a table seat, that too in the quiet section.

She said I could have offered him my headphones. Maybe if they were over-ear, but they’re in-ear and he’s a stranger so, no.

She said I kind of invaded his personal space – I didn’t touch him or move from the confines of my seat at any point and she was like no but watching someone’s iPad is an asshole move.

We’re not in a fight, just a lighthearted debate on whether or not I’m TA here for how I went about it.

Without a doubt, lots of quiet car riders in the comments.

Justrelsstuff wrote:

NTA. And Lea needs to stop being such a doormat.

I do wish the guards would enforce the Quiet Zones, but the assholish reaction of the guy you encountered does make me realise why they don't want to get involved; their job is bad enough already.

OP responded:

Lea is a bit of a pushover. At the point she was like ‘you could have given him your headphones,’ I was like babes you’re having a laugh.

And 100%, I knew involving a guard would just escalate the situation and also make me feel really childish and ‘snitchy’ after his comment

Garamon7 wrote:

NTA. He wanted 'Friends', he got 'a friend'.

imothro wrote:

NTA at all. He chose to make watching his tv show a public activity. In doing so, he opened himself up to public participation.

AdditionalFondant304 wrote:

NTA. He lacked basic manners, you just commented on the show he so graciously put on for EVERYONE to hear.

Well, if you can't beat em...