Putting You In The Hot Seat

(I am on the bus home when a middle-aged woman gets on. The bus is far from empty, but there are several free seats left. Nonetheless, she approaches a teenage girl sitting down towards the front.)

Lady: “I need that seat.”

Girl: *in halting, heavily-accented French* “I’m sorry, I don’t…”

Lady: “I NEED that seat. I need it now. I have a pass. I need it.”

Girl: “I… there are other…”

Lady: “BUT I NEED THAT SEAT.”

(The girl apparently gave up, and decided to move to one of the free seats nearby. The woman sat her bag down on the vacated seat and proceeded to stand next to it with a faint air of triumph for the rest of her journey – all of three stops down the road.)