Pexels/Reddit

A quiet midday train ride isn’t usually where you’d expect a standoff over bike parking, but that’s exactly what happened to one teen commuting on her bike.

She’d secured it in the only rack slot with working velcro, expecting an uneventful ride home, until a stranger boarded one stop later with an expensive racing bike and simply tried to move hers without a word of warning.

When she asked him to stop, his response wasn’t an apology, it was a demand that she relocate it for him instead.

Something about the entitlement in that moment made her decide, somewhat pettily, to hold her ground — and the stranger didn’t like that one bit.

Keep reading for the full story.

AITA for refusing to move my bike on a train?

I (18f) cycle absolutely everywhere due to not yet having my license, as my parents are too busy to teach me at the moment. I also live very close to a train station.

This is great as it means I can use the train to get places, but as I live in England, and it’s the summer, the trains are not very reliable. This means I often take my bike on them.

But there were some unexpected downsides to this method of transportation.

If anyone has travelled on GWR, you will know there are special bike racks with velcro to secure your bike, but the bike often stays still without the velcro. There are 4 bike slots in each track, but often there are less velcro, as they have been broken or removed. You can also stand by the doors with your bike, or lean them up.

I always try to put my bike in a slot with velcro, but I’m fine if it isn’t, since it’s an old cheap bike (like £30) and I take it everywhere so it gets pretty beat up.

The next time the teen caught the bus, all the stars seemed to align.

I get on the train and the bike rack is empty, and there’s only one velcro. Perfect, I put my bike in the rack and sit down opposite where I can see it and start doom scrolling.

The train is very empty, as it’s midday on a weekday, so there’s only one other person in the carriage. And I wasn’t expecting to see another bike, there aren’t normally that many.

But soon another passenger throws a wrench into her plans.

One stop later a guy gets on with a really posh racing bike, carbon fibre etc. I watch him get on, and think nothing of it until he starts to try and remove my bike from its rack.

She decides to speak up, and he wasn’t happy about it.

I say, “Sorry, can you leave my bike alone please,” and he turns around and tells me to move it for his bike. If he’d asked nicely before moving my bike, I might have, but I’m feeling petty so I say no.

He gets super upset and starts telling me how nice his bike is, etc, so I put my headphones on. The other guy in the carriage tells him to leave me alone, and he does, but he ends up standing by the door holding it.

Soon she begins to wonder whether she made the right call.

He looked quite tired, and I started feeling bad, and my mum, who does a lot of biking, says I was out of line, so AITA?

She was there first!

What did Reddit have to say?

The other guy was clearly in the wrong according to this commenter.

It’s not even a debate in this user’s eyes.

The other passenger had a rotten attitude from the start.

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If you enjoyed this story, check out this post about a woman who refused to let her neighbor have access to his spot, telling him to drive over the curb instead.

This user also takes the teen’s side.

There’s a pretty clear difference between asking someone for a favor and just assuming you’re entitled to their spot.

At the end of the day, the teen secured her spot in the one available velcro spot first. Everyone saw it.

This stranger pretty much went from 0 to 100 in an instant when he resorted to trying to brute force his way in.

As for the teen, she did the right thing sticking up for herself here. Being firm isn’t the same thing as being unreasonable.

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Author

Benjamin Cottrell

Benjamin Cottrell | Assistant Editor, Internet Culture

Benjamin Cottrell is an Assistant Editor and contributing writer at TwistedSifter, specializing in internet culture, viral social dynamics, and the moral complexities of online communities. He brings a highly analytical, editorial voice to his reporting on workplace conflicts, malicious compliance, and interpersonal drama, with a specific focus on nuanced stories that lack an obvious villain.

As a published author of rhetorical criticism, Benjamin leverages his academic background in human communication to dissect and elevate viral social media threads. Instead of simply summarizing events, he provides readers with balanced, deep-dive commentary into why the internet reacts the way it does. In addition to his cultural reporting, he is an experienced fine art photography essayist and video game reviewer.

When he isn’t analyzing the latest viral debates, Benjamin is usually chipping away at his extensive video game backlog, hunting down the best new restaurants, or out exploring the city with a camera in hand.

Connect with Benjamin on Instagram and read more of his essays on Substack.