“Young lady, sit your child on your lap,” a large woman in her fifties or so reprimanded me. By the way, I bought my son a seat on the bus and paid $85 for it.
That day I was taking Yegor to his grandmother’s house. He’s a big boy in my family, although he’s only five years old, but everyone sees him as a primary schooler. In addition, all members of our family treat him like an adult. That’s why we buy a separate seat for him in the route buses, he behaves himself, and besides, he is tall and weighs a lot, it is difficult to keep him in arms. Both my son and I would feel uncomfortable, and he could smear his shoes on other passengers, sitting on my lap. In general, my son should sit separately in his seat, it would be more comfortable for everyone.
Just this day Yegorka was sitting next to the window and I was in the seat next to him. We took the seats in front so it would be easier for us to get off the bus, we had to get off before the other passengers. I explained to the driver that I had bought a ticket for the child, too, so he wouldn’t put another person on that seat.
We went out of town. Right on the road the bus was stopped by a stout lady. There were still vacant seats somewhere behind us, so the driver stopped. When this woman piled into the bus (I can’t say it any other way), the car even wobbled, and the fellow passengers were silent in surprise as they watched her climb into the cabin. When she finally got in and slammed the door behind her, everyone heard the driver sigh sadly. The driver began to move, and the woman continued to move closer to the passenger seats.
“Girl, sit your baby on your lap,” the large woman reprimanded me. I explained to her that I had paid for my son’s seat and would not be putting him on my lap. The driver interceded for me, saying that I should walk across the cabin to the front, there were more seats. This lady rudely muttered that she had to be provided with a seat, because it was easier for us to move to other seats. Besides, she regularly rides this minibus, and always takes a seat next to the window.
I didn’t give up my seat, but the bus gradually accelerated, and the woman began to be swept around the cabin, as she was still standing next to our seats and wasn’t about to go into the back. My insides were boiling, but I didn’t want to cause a scandal in front of my son. We started chatting with my son to get my mind off the lady. The woman was furious with my calm state, and she yelled, “Well, quickly move the child and let me sit down, do not you understand? I said in a calm tone that I will not give way. My son is an adult and I bought him his own seat. And since we got on the bus earlier, we sat where we wanted. There are no tickets here.
The driver was not distracted from driving, but I could feel that it was not the first time he got on his route. The companions at first didn’t pay attention to what was going on, either. Some sat with their headphones on, others were asleep. Gradually, however, she began to receive advice: “Woman, step into an empty seat.” “Don’t shout, you’re not in your own house.” To what was going on around her, the aunt claimed that she would not go forward because she was difficult because of her size. Although it was obvious to everyone that she was acting that way on principle, it was our cozy seat she wanted to take.
There was a lot of commotion on the bus. And then the most interesting thing happened. The driver stopped moving. He got out from behind the wheel, went into the cabin, put the woman’s bags outside, and then escorted the lady out of the bus. The dazed and hysterical woman did not have time to blink when the man got behind the wheel and drove away. There was silence in the cabin. We all pooled our money to reimburse the driver for the money he had lost on the woman. When we arrived, we handed over the money, and the man was so happy he promised that he would never let her on the bus again, because she was always arguing with everyone.
