‘I was told off for talking in the quiet carriage on the train'

It was meant to be a fun day out for this mum and her daughters. 

It was the school holidays, and I took my two daughters on the train from our home in regional Victoria, into Melbourne for the day.

We went to an activity they had been begging to go to and then explored the city.

But as someone with inherently bad luck, our fun girls’ day out ended on a bit of a downer after who my youngest daughter very aptly and funnily later labelled a ‘Karen’ (a term she had picked up at school I’d like to clarify) very angrily told my daughters (and me) off for talking in the ‘Quiet Carriage’ of the train.

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Is it OK to chat loudly on the train? Image: iStock

We weren't actually being noisy

Before judgment is passed either way, please note how this all transpired. So, let me take it back an hour before this occurred.

While en route to the train station, I checked my public transport app to confirm the time, check for delays, and see if there were any changes. All was as planned. Well, except when we arrived at the stipulated platform and were told our train had just been changed to a different platform, which just happened to be all the way at the other end of the station.

So, what turned into a really comfortable arrival time, now involved the three of us running to make sure we got on the train we wanted to catch home.

While we made it, the first two carriages were nearly full, with only the odd seat available here or there or no spaces with three seats together.

Given my kids are only 9 and 10 and not used to travelling on public transport, I decided to check out the third carriage, which also was the ‘Quiet Carriage’ at the back, to see if there was a group of three seats together. There was and so we took them.

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The 'Karen' on the train

Upon sitting down, I told my kids that we were in the ‘Quiet Carriage’ and that this meant we had to speak softly to one another and be mindful that others in there were not wanting to be in a noisy environment.

So, we proceeded to enjoy some (non-crunchy) lollies and talk (quietly) amongst ourselves about our day and as the journey proceeded, we played some Eye Spy and Charades.

About halfway into the trip, a girl who would have been around seven asked her dad a question and he replied to her, then the woman across the aisle from us, who had looked very cranky from the moment she sat down, reprimanded him.

“This is the quiet carriage. You are being far too loud,” she said very crossly.

While I hadn’t thought the man was loud at all and had noticed the volume and manner in which this lady spoke to him a lot more than anything he’d said, I heard him apologise to her anyway. Then about ten minutes later the same woman (AKA Karen) then spoke, or should I say barked at me.

“You know this is the Quiet Carriage?” she angrily asked me (albeit rhetorically.)

“I sat on here because of that reason and you and your kids have been ‘at it’ since we left Melbourne,” she added, looking at me as if I had ruined her whole life.

Some people enjoy the quiet commute home. Image: iStock

Now, I am usually an over apologiser when any things like this happen, I even apologise when it isn’t warranted but, on this occasion, due to the fact, I thought she was being flat-out unreasonable and well, seemingly just looking to argue with someone, I decided to stand my ground.

Politely I told her I was aware of what carriage it was and that I didn’t think we were disrespecting that. We had been talking quietly and that if she had an issue with this, given she was by herself, perhaps she could find somewhere else on the carriage to sit because we weren’t able to do this.

Needless to say, Karen didn’t like this response and began to lecture me about my parenting and that I should teach my kids to be respectful of others and of rules.

After her lecture, I decided to stop engaging with her and instead turned back to my children who were clearly shocked by this woman’s attack but before we recommenced our Charades, the stranger across from me, smiled in my direction, rolled her eyes about Karen and said to me (quietly of course), “It is people like her that make me hate sitting in this carriage.”

And right on nice lady, right on.

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What is the 'quiet carriage' anyway?

The thing is, if you actually want to be a real Karen and look up what the Quiet Carriage is on the VLine website, it is a dedicated zone for customers who want to travel in a quieter environment. It literally says: "The quiet carriage is a customer-regulated initiative, where travellers voluntarily turn down the volume on electronic devices, switch mobile phones to silent and speak quietly.”

It isn’t actually enforceable or enforced by anyone and it isn’t a ‘Silent Carriage’ it is a ‘Quiet Carriage’ and there is a difference.

So, while you may have been a downer to a great day out Karen, you are also wrong.

Originally published as ‘I was told off for talking in the quiet carriage on the train'