I stood there holding my phone while the old lady snorted impatiently. She pushed my hand away with force. "What are you looking at? Don't wave your phone in front of me. I can't read. I'll just sit here today. Why can't I sit here?"
"Ouch!" I stood there clutching my wrist, my face contorted in pain. Tears instantly welled up in my eyes. It hurt like hell!
The old lady's push had sent my hand crashing into the most challenging part of the seat back in front of me. My entire wrist throbbed with a burning pain.
I was so annoyed I wanted to hit something. "Sure, you can sit, no one's stopping you. But this seat? I paid for it! Sit anywhere else, but where am I supposed to sit if you're in my seat?"
Some passengers in the compartment couldn't stand it anymore and started to smooth things over. "It's just a seat, why don't you two just switch? They're both seats, what difference does it make?"
"Exactly," another added. "It's no big deal. Young lady, you're being a bit too stubborn. Learn to be flexible."
I held back a torrent of words. Was it wrong to sit in the seat I paid for?
Finally, after a moment of silence, I said, "Fine, you can sit here. What's your seat number? We can just switch."