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The original was posted on /r/AmItheAsshole by /u/Orychalcos on 2023-09-30 20:09:42.

I (31F) regularly travel by bus to see my fiancé, who lives in France, until we settle down together next year. The problem is that I have a few psychological disorders that can complicate things (including Schizophrenia, Tourette’s and social phobias, including a phobia of babies). So I never travel without my medication, a headset that insulates me from ambient noise, and… a little stuffed animal. A little fox that helps me stay calm and manage my various crisis.

Today, was the day I’m going home with an 8-hour bus journey from Paris to Belgium ahead of me.I have everything I need. “No big deal, I can do it.” I thought. The problem for me is the presence of a toddler with her mother. A child’s screams and cries are very hard for me to bear, but I understand that for a baby, it’s a long time in her seat with nothing to do. So I just turn the volume up a little, being three rows behind the mother and her daughter, who is getting more and more agitated and is now screaming. From what I understand, her diaper was full and her mother couldn’t change it (even though the driver has assured her that if need be, he’ll stop at the nearest freeway service area to allow the mother to give her daughter the necessary care). Now comes the moment when I can potentially be AH.

Remember the fox stuffed animal? (Her name is Bidouille, by the way). I take it with me to the bus toilet, keep her in my t-shirt, and then put her on my belt until I’m back at my seat. The little girl starts screaming, screaming as if something had been broken, and honestly, even I, who is afraid of children, began to wonder. I take Bidouille back, look out of the window… and the little girl’s mother comes up to me and takes Bidouille out of my hands, saying “Say, can I have her? The kid’s got a crush on it and is having a fit.”

I? What? No? I answer the mother politely, and asked her if she’d be willing to give up her child’s stuffed toy to calm someone else’s tantrum, or even tears. She says, “No, of course not. But she wants it and she’s not going to stop crying until she gets it. It’s okay, you can buy another one.”

I reach for Bidouille, she clenches her fingers on it, I hear a creak and fear it’s damaged. Rising in anger and anxiety, I get up from my seat, telling her that if she wasn’t capable of handling an 8-hour journey with her toddler on a bus, she should think again, reminding her of what the driver had said. So I took my plushie back, telling her that she just had to organize herself better and not think that as soon as her daughter points at something while crying, she’s going to get it, especially if it belongs to someone. Even more so if it belongs to someone with mental disorders.

She called me a racist and a “effing” Goth, and went back to her seat.

So… AITA?

I apologize in advance for any spelling mistakes. English is not my first language, French is. ><