I refused to give up my seat for an elderly woman – people gave me dirty looks but I had a good reason
A WOMAN refused to give up her seat on a bus for an elderly lady, saying she got dirty looks from fellow passengers but she had a good reason.
The woman got entangled in the awkward exchange when she was sitting on her own and was confronted by an older woman who demanded she move to the upper deck so she could have her seat.
However, the younger woman was pregnant at the time and said she was getting the bus after a busy day at work.
She said she gets on at the first stop and rides the route until the end.
When she got on the bus it was already busy, with just one double seat available on the bottom deck.
She was also carrying several heavy bags and didn’t feel safe going up the stairs in her condition and so decided to sit downstairs.
However, after a few stops, she was confronted by the older woman.
The younger woman took to Reddit to explain her story: “The bus emptied fairly quickly after a few stops and filled up again about halfway through the journey.
“This is where the problem started, an older lady with a stick got on the bus and well she asked me to move.
“She wasn’t even polite when she asked and honestly I thought she meant move over so she could sit next to me.
“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’.
“These seats were not priority seats for disabled people the ones in front of me were (which had an empty seat) but these ones were not.”
The woman added she offered the older lady the seat next to her and explained she couldn’t go upstairs.
However, the older lady didn’t accept this, saying she didn’t want to sit near anyone and added “move your lazy fat behind and give the seat to someone who needs it”.
The woman added in the post: “I hate confrontation and I absolutely hate people who use their pregnancy as an excuse, which means I hate what I said 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’.
“Before any more could be said a man across from me said to the lady ‘Here Love, have my seat’.
“He got up let her sit down and went upstairs, but not before giving me a dirty look.
“The lady spent the next 10-15 minutes talking with the other oldies 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 have spoken to someone like that in their day.”
She continued: “This happened a couple of days ago, while my boyfriend and my dad said I was in the right, but I can’t help but feel like I acted like an entitled brat.”
The post generated a huge response with more than 500 people commenting, with many agreeing she was not in the wrong to stay in her seat and stand her ground.
One person said: “All seats on the bus were double seats so she would have had to have sit next to someone, which she said she didn’t want to do. So basically she wanted a double seat to herself.”
While someone else commented: “You are 18 weeks pregnant and you were making the right decision to keep you and baby safe.”
