Pregnant Woman Called ‘Lazy' For Refusing To Give Up Her Seat On A Bus To An Older Woman
She was doing what was safe for her baby.
hedgehog94 / Shutterstock A recent bus trip home for a pregnant woman became a taxing experience after she was called "fat" and "lazy" by a fellow passenger.
She claims that the passenger demanded that she switch seats, however, she refused due to safety concerns.
Now the woman is wondering if she was acting like an "entitled brat."
The pregnant woman refused to give up her seat for an older passenger.
Sharing her story on the subreddit "r/AmItheA–hole" (AITA), she asked other Redditors if she made the right decision.
The 26-year-old woman began her post by explaining that she boarded the bus after an eight-hour shift at work to embark on the trip home.
According to her, the trip would take roughly two hours.
"Now I get on at the very first stop on the bus route and get off at the very last stop," she wrote. "When I got on the bus it was quite busy on the bottom deck, with only one double seat left available."
She admitted that although she would usually go to the top deck to look for available seats, this time she was traveling with five slightly heavy pieces of luggage and did not feel comfortable lugging them to the top deck, considering she's 18 weeks pregnant.
The woman opted to take the double seat on the bottom deck.
About halfway through the journey, the woman was approached by an older woman with a cane who asked her to move seats.
"She wasn't even polite when she asked and honestly I thought she meant to move over so she could sit next to me," the woman wrote. "So I moved my bags and started to scoot over, when she [said] 'no, no I meant can you find another seat, this seat is reserved for disabled people. You are clearly not disabled. There are plenty of seats upstairs.'"
The woman pointed out that the seat was not a priority seat for disabled individuals, and that the seats in front of her were unoccupied.
The woman politely refused to change seats.
"Sorry, I really don't feel safe going up the stairs with all these bags, I don't mind you sitting next to me though, we both have our masks on," the woman informed the older passenger.
The older passenger proceeded to antagonize the woman, calling her 'lazy.'
However, the older woman protested, claiming that she "didn’t feel safe" sitting next to anybody, and told the woman to move her "fat" and "lazy behind" to give up the seat to someone who needed it.
The woman shared that she "hates confrontation" and never uses her pregnancy as an excuse to opt out of certain things, and admits that she "hates" how she handled the situation and what she said to the older woman next.
"Lady I am pregnant, I am not going up those stairs with these bags and risking a fall. If you really want a seat to yourself ask someone else to move," the woman revealed.
At that moment, another passenger stood up and offered the older woman his seat, but not before shooting the woman a dirty look.
The older woman then spent the next few minutes complaining about the incident with other passengers.
"The lady spent the next 10-15 minutes talking with the other [passengers] on the bus about how the kids these days have no respect for their elders or people with disabilities, or how they would have never spoken to someone like in their day," the woman wrote.
The woman shares that her boyfriend and father believe that she was in the right after recalling the confrontation with them, but she cannot help but feel like an "entitled brat."
Redditors applauded the woman for standing her ground and criticized the behavior of the older passenger.
"If she didn't want you acting like an entitled brat, she shouldn't have acted like an entitled hag," one user commented. "She wants to travel seated and sees no seats available that would be up to her taste, she's a grown-up, I'm sure she can work it out."
"F-–k older people who think their age entitles them to respect...they're usually the ones lacking manners," another user wrote.
"You are 18 weeks pregnant and you were making the right decision to keep you and baby safe," another user supported the woman.
Others pointed out that not all disabilities are visible, and that the older woman had no right to assume that the woman was healthy and demanded that she give up her seat.
Megan Quinn is a writer at YourTango who covers entertainment and news, self, love, and relationships.