that's my seat, part two

i am a type a personality.  i follow the rules, because that's why they are there.  there are reasons.  i only bend or break them when i think they are dangerous or bad.  but otherwise, no.  i just do what i'm supposed to do. 

i get really annoyed when other people don't. 

for instance.  what's the point of reserving seats on my train journey when someone else is invariably going to be sitting in my seat?  i have to face forward or i get motion-sick.  so when i order my tickets, i request a forward-facing window seat.  the train people put a 'reserved' sign on my seat.  clearly marked. 

and yet, when i board, there is someone in my seat.  the one clearly marked as reserved. 

that's my seat, i politely say.  i reserved it. 

well, there are plenty of other seats.  just pick another, they say. 

i don't want another, i say.  that's why i reserved THAT one. 

well, someone was in my seat, so i sat here.  go and do likewise, they say (although not usually so articulately). 

grrrrrr.  i glare at them. 

but i always have to go off and hope to find an open seat which fits my specifications.  and always, always, always this kind of thing goes on all around me. 

what is the point, train companies, of allowing me to reserve a seat if i'm not going to actually get the seat?  your train people don't care.  even when i explain and ask for their help.  they also tell me to just pick another seat. 

seriously?!  what's the point of that?! 

i do not like people breaking rules like that.  no harm done, you say?  perhaps.  but it's damn annoying, that's for sure. 

that's my seat

so i met my friend for lunch in the student union the other week.  yes, it was busy time of day.  no, there were not many seats.  i got there early, and grabbed a seat for myself and the three other people who were to join me.  while i was waiting, a few people came and asked if they could sit there.  they were disappointed but moved on when i said i was meeting friends. 

my friends arrived.  one of them stayed at the seats while the others of us when to order and get our food (i had to write my friend's order on my hand so i wouldn't forget).  after waiting forever in the long line, i got up to the till and discovered they didn't have what my friend had asked for (a certain cookie).  so i texted her to find out if she wanted something else.  she gave me her revised order, and told me that some girl was sitting in my seat, even though she had been told that people were sitting there. 

seriously?!  i had to see this...

so i walked back to our seats.  all my stuff--coat, bags, etc-- were on the end of the bench where i had been sitting.  this was easily a three person bench.  this girl was sitting RIGHT BY MY STUFF.  not on the empty far end of the bench, but right on top of my coat.  wtf, girl?!

i walked up, and knowing that my friend had already told this freak that there were people sitting there, i said: that's my seat.  she looked at me like i was the one out of line, and scooted down a little to the other end.  just then the other people came up, and i said: they are with us.  she looked at me real snooty-like and finally gathered up her stuff.  my friend and i just looked at each other in disbelief. 

turns out, she had come up while my friend was holding our seats and just sat down.  didn't ask if there was room, didn't mind that all my stuff was right there... just sat down.  my friend said, my friends are sitting there.  freak says, they aren't here now.  friend says, they are getting food and will be right back.  freak says, i'll move if they come back.  then i came back, and she acted like i was the freak. 

come on, people.  you don't just sit down practically on top of someone else's stuff.  i don't care how crowded a place is... you don't just make yourself at home where there are obviously other people, without even asking.  if there is room, i don't mind sharing the space.  but give me a break!

freak.