Girl tried to weaponise autism to skip a bus queue and ended up at the back anyway.
This is NOT an AITA. I probably was. I do not care. I am here to vent before I start a fight with a stranger over something stupid. So. Ireland. Sun is out. Miracles are happening. I’m in a decent mood for once despite work and college absolutely riding me. I’m 24F, don’t drive, so public transport is my personality at this point.
Every Tuesday I do the same routine.
Bus → station → second bus → college.
I stick in my earphones, dissociate, mind my business. Except there’s this girl. Calling her Beth. No offence to Beths globally. Beth is ALWAYS on this route. And Beth (female in her 20’s I believe)has a habit. Beth does not believe in queues. Like there could be 20+ people standing there patiently waiting and Beth will just march to the front like she’s the main character and the rest of us are background extras. I usually let it go. I don’t have the energy. Pick your battles and all that.
But TODAY??? My first bus got cancelled. So now I’m already one inconvenience away from snapping. I’m waiting an extra hour. I finally get to the stop early enough that I’m actually FIRST in line. Peace. Stability. Order. And then I see her. Beth. Walking up like she’s about to do her usual little queue infiltration. And I thought to myself… not today Satan.
She tries to squeeze in but there’s no gap. I’m planted. Immovable object like. So she turns to me and goes, and I quote, “Get out of my way… please.” The AUDACITY. I tell her calmly I was here first and I just want to get on the bus. Oh. My. God. You’d swear I committed a crime. She launches into a speech about invisible disabilities, says she’s autistic, says she has a RIGHT to be at the front, that I’m discriminating against her. Girl. No.
I just smile and go being autistic doesn’t give you VIP fast pass access to the bus. And this woman SHOVES me. Like fully shoves me to the ground. At that point I’m sitting there like… oh you’ve actually lost the plot entirely. Security comes over, already looking tired, and Beth starts going OFF about how she’s autistic and I’m “disabling” her by not letting her go first.
So I ask him straight up, does having a disability mean you skip the queue? He says no, but people usually show courtesy if someone needs support, which is fair enough. Completely fair. But that’s when I said okay bet. Pulled out my AsIAm card and went, “I’m autistic too. Why does hers matter more than mine?” Silence. This woman’s jaw DROPPED.
She goes “why didn’t you tell me?”
Why would I?? I don’t owe you my medical history so you can decide whether to treat me like a human being. Being autistic does not mean you get to
A) act like an absolute menace
B) put your hands on people
C) invent rules that don’t exist.
Security guard is mentally clocked out at this stage. Man is reconsidering his career. He asks what I want to do. I said if she wants to get on this bus without me reporting her for assault, she can march herself to the back of the queue. And guess what. She did. Walk of shame. Past everyone. To the back. I swear to god some people started clapping. I felt like I’d just won an Olympic event. (Seems I ain’t the only one fed up with Beth)
Anyway. Moral of the story: you are not entitled to anything just because you shout the loudest. And maybe don’t shove people over a bus queue??
I am all for supporting those who need it. But this was just an example of someone using their diagnoses as an excuse.