Woman called ‘rude’ on Mumsnet for telling man on tube to stop looking at her phone
Mother is slammed as ‘rude’ for confronting a fellow Tube passenger about ‘looking at her phone’ after he asked about photographs from an art exhibition she was browsing
- British mother took to UK parenting site Mumsnet over ‘bizarre’ incident
- Her post divided opinions online with some calling her ‘rude’
- Others thought she was being reasonable, and said they would ‘do the same’
A British mother was slammed as ‘rude’ for confronting a fellow Tube passenger about ‘looking at her phone’ after he asked about photographs from an art exhibition she was browsing.
The woman took to Mumsnet complaining of a ‘bizarre’ incident that saw a stranger peering over her shoulder to look at photos on her phone on the London Underground.
She told the stranger, who was male, that ‘there’s such a thing as privacy’ when he leaned over her and asked to look at her photos from an art exhibit she had been to.
However, she said she was quickly shot down by a pair of women sitting opposite who said she was ‘being rude’.
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A woman said she had a ‘bizarre’ experience on the London Underground when a man next to her asked about images on her phone (stock image)
She asked others on Mumsnet about the incident, to gauge whether they would have reacted the same, saying: ‘ I had a rather unpleasant experience on my way home today on the London tube and I wonder how other people would have reacted.
‘I was sitting in a tube carriage and looking at images and videos I had taken from an art exhibition I visited earlier. Was really tired and just wanted to mind my own business.
‘A man comes in and seats next to me, fidgeting and getting a bit too close for comfort. I ignore him.
‘He then asks me ”What is that?” I realise he is now looking at my phone and expects me to tell him what the picture I am looking at is.
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The woman took to Mumsnet after a man who was ‘fidgeting’ next to her asked her about the photos she was looking at on her own phone
‘I snap back ”That is my phone and there is something called privacy”.
‘To my surprise two young women who were sitting on the other said of me get involved and say ”that was rude, he was only asking you a question”.
‘At that point I had enough and said something in the line of ”My pictures are private and none of your business” and moved to a different seat on the other side of the train.’
The woman then moved to another seat on the train where she could hear the girls ‘sniggering’.
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People rushed to defend the poster with many saying they would have ‘done the same’ and others saying they admired how ‘assertive’ she was
She said: ‘Heard the girls snigger but there was no more interaction after that.’
She said she even whether the interaction was a ‘ploy’ to try and distract her, as the females sitting opposite called her ‘rude’ and insisted that the man was ‘only being friendly’.
The woman continued: ‘I really don’t get why on earth the guy thought it was OK to barge into my space and then start staring at my phone and demand my attention and why these two women actually thought it appropriate to defend him…
‘Afterwards I did ask myself if this was an attempt to distract me while one them would try to get something from my bag but even as it stands I was absolutely furious about these people’s behavior.’
The thread was flooded with comments, and the reaction was very mixed – with some saying that the original poster did nothing wrong and others saying that she had been ‘rude’.
Some admitted they had endured strange experiences on trains, and one woman said she had ‘regretted’ being kind to talkative stranger.
One person said: ‘I think what you said was fine! and it’s also fine to move.
‘I once attempted to stop a huge man from holding some poor girls arm, and he did but grabbed mine instead. That was weird.’
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There was a divide in opinions with some people who say they ‘live in London’ and consider the comments to be rude
Another said: ‘The only encounters like this that I regret are the ones where I’ve engaged and been friendly despite feeling totally uncomfortable. You did nothing wrong.’
However, many said that the woman had been ‘rude’ and people declared they had ‘grown up in London and wouldn’t talk to someone like that’.
Ohers speculated whether the man had been neurodiverse.
A Mumsnet user told the original poster: ‘I do think you have a point about your Pictures being private.
‘But I wouldn’t speak to anyone like that it sounds rude and uncalled for.
‘I don’t want to bring out the old ‘neuro diverse’, but maybe he was.
‘I am also extremely careful about my personal safety and even if I was annoyed about being asked I would play it cool and make a casual neutral remark and then get off at the next stop if I felt uncomfortable.’
One person could see the situation from the man’s point of view, saying: ‘I could see a situation in which something bright or unusual caught my eye on a phone and I wanted to know what it was.
‘If he wasn’t with the girls I doubt it was a scam. I think it’s fine to not want to talk to strangers but equally there’s no need to be rude.’
Another said: ‘I would have simply said ‘pics from an exhibition’ with a look to make it clear I wasn’t interested in chatting.
‘I was born and have grown up in London but I don’t see someone attempting chit chat as deserving of the outrage and snarky response you gave.’
One user went so far as to say the woman ‘shouldn’t look at pictures in public if they are private’ prompting further responses from others that said: ‘So if we are reading books or newspapers should it be a group activity?’