A pregnant woman has opened up about being called "lazy" and given mean looks after refusing to give up her seat on the bus to an elderly woman.
The 26-year-old mom-to-be took to Reddit's 'Am I The A**hole' forum to seek others' opinions on whether or not she was in the wrong in the situation.
The anonymous poster revealed that she'd hopped on the bus after an eight-hour day at work, and she travels the whole route from the very first stop to the very last, meaning the journey takes around two hours in total.
She explained: "When I got on the bus it was quite busy on the bottom deck, with only one double seat left available. Usually I would go upstairs when it's this busy but this time I had about 4-5 slightly heavy bags with me and didn't feel safe trying to get up the stairs with them especially since i'm 18 weeks pregnant, so I sat on the seat down stairs."
However, her usually uneventful journey was set to get pretty awkward when an older lady with a stick got on mid-way through the journey and asked her to move.
She explained: "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 '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 added that she wasn't actually sitting in the priority seats for people with disabilities but the row behind, so explained to the elderly passenger that she did not feel safe going up the stairs with all her bags, adding: "I don't mind you sitting next to me though."
However, the elderly woman then snapped back: "I don't want to sit next to anybody, I don't feel safe. So move your lazy fat behind and give the seat to someone who needs it."
The original poster admitted she usually hates confrontation and "people who use their pregnancy as an excuse," but told the older woman: "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 tension was broken up when a man sitting across the aisle offered up his seat to the old lady as he went upstairs, but the woman added it was "not before giving me a dirty look."
She added: "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 in their day."
The pregnant woman finished her post by saying that despite her boyfriend and dad agreeing that she was in the right not to move, she couldn't help but feel like she'd acted like an "entitled brat".
Many people took to the comments to reassure her that she was "not the a**hole" in the situation, commenting: "NTA - you are 18 weeks pregnant and you were making the right decision to keep you and baby safe. Old people can be so entitled and annoying!"
Another added: "NTA. Not in a million years. A) you were pregnant and had bags, too risky B) they weren't even the disabled seats! C) she was rude D) she wanted the whole seat, not you to just move up E) she insulted you. Any of these on their own would be enough for me to say NTA."
One pointed out: "1. Not all disabilities are visible. The comment about you clearly not being disabled was ignorant, at best. And even if you were disabled and in the designated seats, you would not have owed her an explanation. 2. You are pregnant and you told her this. End of story. Random stranger lady doesn't need to know more. 3. There was at least one open seat nearby, and you pointed it out. That she didn't want the open seat does not make it your problem.
"Older lady sounds entitled and argumentative and likely accustomed to getting her way. Good for you for not giving in. NTA."
Another user added: "NTA, she was just looking for a reason to take her hate out on someone. She found you. Good on you for standing your ground."
