The girl calmly pulled out her water bottle and poured it over the woman – not hysterically, but with clear intention.

— Don’t talk about my parents — she said softly, but so firmly that the whole bus fell silent.

The woman said nothing. Someone let out a nervous laugh, someone else whispered “wow…”

— That’s enough, isn’t it? — came a man’s voice from the back.

More people spoke up:

— She was just sleeping…

— What do her parents have to do with it?

The woman sat stunned. Her face was wet, her makeup ruined. The girl didn’t gloat – she simply stood up, adjusted her backpack.

— I really would have given up my seat. But no one spoke to me with kindness — she said, then got off at the next stop.

The silence that followed was heavy. No one knew who was right. Everyone silently asked themselves: “And me? What would I have done?”

The woman wiped her face with a tissue. Maybe she really was in pain, maybe she carried some deep sorrow… Or maybe she was just tired of feeling invisible.

The driver turned around and said:

— One more scene like that, and I’m kicking everyone off. That’s enough. I’m more tired of life than all of you put together.

“And if it happened to you – whose side would you be on?”