Jackets and purses on chairs (in empty rooms)

[kareng57]

I don't think you were rude to put your coat and purse on the chair next to you.  It's not like there weren't lots of other chairs for people to sit on.  I do think it's rude of that lady to insist on sitting right NEXT to you, when there were lots of other seats available.  That's just plain weird.  I would be very suspicious of someone who did that.

I'd agree that it's kind of weird, but weird does not equal rude.

[strawbabies]

I think it's weird that when there was a chair available where she wouldn't be sitting next to anybody, she wanted to sit in the chair right next to you. 

[Knitterly]

I think it's weird that when there was a chair available where she wouldn't be sitting next to anybody, she wanted to sit in the chair right next to you.

I thought it was kind of weird, too.  And uncomfortable.  I'm all for chatting with random strangers, but this was just...strange.

I am glad to know that I wasn't rude.

I also think that chairs are for people and not things. I think you were rude.

When I am going to put my bags or coat on a chair, I always move it if I see someone looking for a seat.

I do that, too.  I did mention in my original post that if there are only 2 empty seats, I wouldn't try put my things on a chair and would move them if I saw the number of empty seats diminishing. 

I think the only way the situation could possibly have been more uncomfortable and strange would have been if I was the only person in the waiting room. 

The woman I'd been chatting with before the second woman came in did not say anything or make any sort of expression indicating that she thought the second woman was strange or weird for wanting That Seat.  Then again, she may have just had a very practiced neutral face. 

I've had time to process it and still don't really think I was rude.  And like other posters said, weird =/= rude, so maybe she was just an unusual person who wanted her preferred seat - which leads me back to wondering if I really was accidentally rude. 

[Deetee]

Also not rude hear. There were plenty of empty seats and it also sounds like you would have moved the items if requested in a reasonable fashion.

[ClaireC79]

Was there another next to the wall?  Sometimes when I'm ill then I like to stabilise myself next to a wall (to the point that I'll stand to lean on the wall rather than sit)

[Shopaholic]

I also vote for the OP not being rude. There were plenty of seats, and she was alert enough to notice if someone had entered and was looking for a seat.

The other lady was very rude in her delivery. I think the OP's "uhhhhm" came out because she was caught off-guard. A polite "Do you mind if I sit there?" might have gotten a more eloquent response.

I also prefer not to sit right next to someone if there is a seat available with more space around it. I don't get when people sit right next to me when they can sit one down from me, and we can both enjoy more elbow room.
One of my pet peeves is when someone is sitting in the middle of a trio of seats...

[Gyburc]

OP, I don't think you were rude at all. I think the other woman was Making A Point, especially since she flounced off before you could even respond properly. Let's hope she was just having a bad day. 

I also don't think it's rude to put belongings on an empty seat in general, even if there are few other seats available. To my mind, the rudeness comes in if you refuse to move them when asked and force someone else to stand, or if whatever it is you are putting on the seat will make it dirty or wet - feet, for instance.

[wonderfullyanonymous]

I don't think it's rude, as long as there are unoccupied seats. If it's rude to put things on a chair, then I think a person with a little butt sitting on a big butt chair is rude, as there aren't as many of those as the little butt chairs. While I can fit on the little butt chairs, the big ones are a little more comfortable.

I found it more rude that the lady wanted to sit right next to her, rather than her things on a chair. I don't think I've ever been in a waiting room where people didn't put things on a chair if it wasn't busy.

[TootsNYC]

I think it's weird that when there was a chair available where she wouldn't be sitting next to anybody, she wanted to sit in the chair right next to you.

And right next to the wall on the other side.
Though if she had wanted to lean on the wall, or emotionally liked that "closed in and protected" feeling, I'd have expected her to wait while you shifted stuff.

As I said, I think the lady was trying to make a point, that point being, "chairs are for people, not things."

And she also got to make the point that SHE was the reasonable one, and you were rude. At least in her head.

[Tabby Uprising]

I think it's weird that when there was a chair available where she wouldn't be sitting next to anybody, she wanted to sit in the chair right next to you.

And right next to the wall on the other side.
Though if she had wanted to lean on the wall, or emotionally liked that "closed in and protected" feeling, I'd have expected her to wait while you shifted stuff.

As I said, I think the lady was trying to make a point, that point being, "chairs are for people, not things."

And she also got to make the point that SHE was the reasonable one, and you were rude. At least in her head.

That's what I have been thinking too.  I wasn't there, but from the OP's description it just seems like this woman was itching to have a confrontation.