A pregnant woman was labeled "lazy" and "entitled" after she refused to give up her bus seat for an elderly lady.
The 26-year-old mom-to-be shared her story on Reddit's 'Am I The A**hole' forum, where people in a moral quandary ask others whether or not they are in the wrong.
She explained how the incident had happened after a long day at work, when she had a two-hour bus journey ahead of her. When she boarded the bus there was only one double seat available.
While she would normally have gone up to the top deck for a seat, being 18 weeks pregnant and having four or five heavy bags to carry made moving around the bus difficult. So she decided to take the last remaining spot downstairs.
After about an hour on the bus, an older lady with a stick got on and asked the woman 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," the woman recalled.
"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.'"
Even though the old lady was wrong, and the seats weren't priority ones for disabled people, the woman kept her cool and replied politely:
"'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.'"
But the elderly lady wasn't satisfied with that answer. "'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 woman remembered her saying.
Rather than give in, she stood her ground and explained that she was pregnant and did not want to move. Before any more could be said, a man across the aisle offered up his seat and moved upstairs - but not before giving the woman "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 in their day."
In her Reddit post, the woman explained how the incident had left her feeling conflicted.
"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," she wrote.
However, other Redditors rushed to her defense.
"NTA [Not The A**hole]. If she didn't want you acting like an entitled brat, she shouldn't have acted like an entitled hag," wrote one user.
"NTA. Respect is earned, not given away for free," another agreed.
"NTA - you are 18 weeks pregnant and you were making the right decision to keep you and baby safe," added a third.
A fourth person spelled out all the reasons why the woman was definitely not in the wrong.
They wrote: "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."
