Man explains why he refused to give pregnant woman his seat on the bus

A young man has been branded an a**hole for attempting to justify why he refused to give up his seat on a bus to a heavily pregnant woman.

In a lengthy post, the Reddit user explained that he had been forced to take public transport while awaiting insurance money following a car crash the previous month.

He said his job kept him on his feet for 10 hours at a time leaving him aching by the end of his shift. This meant that he “cherished” the time he could then spend sitting on the bus ride home.

Getting to the heart of his story, he said: “So last night I’m on the bus, and a very heavily pregnant lady gets on. She looks around for a seat, only to find there are no available ones left.

“I’m the closest to her, so she starts giving me the imploring eyes. I had my headphones on and tried to pretend I couldn’t see her, but once she started talking to me it became inevitable.”

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He then insisted that he “wasn’t rude or anything” but answered the woman’s cry for help with a categorical no.

“I told her I’ve had a long day and my feet are sore. I don’t want to give up my seat,” he said.

He went on: “She started crying about how she’s a pregnant single mom, and I told her I’m sorry, but that was her personal choice and she can’t expect other people to accommodate her life choices.

“We live in a state where birth control and abortions are free, so I don’t know why this should be my problem. It’s not my fault she decided to have a baby when she can’t afford a car.”

Eventually, he continued: “An old man shouted that I’m a ‘worthless punk’ and offered his seat to the lady,” before “ranting and raving about ‘damn millennials’.”

But as the good samaritan handed over his seat to the woman the bus lurched, toppling the pair over and prompting them to lash out at the seat-hogging passenger using ”all sorts of nasty names”.

Concluding his message, the Redditor said: “I was tired and had a long day, and I don’t know why we need to keep perpetuating the idea that breeding somehow means you’re entitled to people’s seats.

“I’m tired, too, we’re all tired in this pandemic.”

The post, originally uploaded six months ago, has been reshared on Reddit’s “Am I the Devil” channel, with hundreds of users expressing their outrage at the man’s behaviour.

One wrote: “Geez I hate that argument, ‘You made the choice to be pregnant so why should i care!?!?’. Well mate, you also made the choice to work in a job that requires you to be on your feet all day. There are plenty of jobs that allow you to sit down in front of a desk all day so why should your painful feet be anyone’s problem?

“It’s not the pregnant woman’s fault that you destroyed your car.”

Another reasoned: “If it was a priority seat, then the pregnant woman was more entitled to it than OP (original poster) because he’d be required by law to give the seat up. If it was not, then technically the seat is fair game, but it’s customary to give your seat up to somebody who is less able to stand.”

They continued: “OP’s feet may be tired, but most likely nothing bad is gonna happen if he stands up for a tad bit longer. A pregnant woman on the other hand, if they fall (which can happen and did happen, on a moving bus), it’s incredibly dangerous, for both the mother and the baby.”

And another said: “That post is so wild. I have an invisible disability but obviously people can’t tell; so I’ve had to say no when asked to give up my seat a couple times before but like...there was legit no need for all the comments he made afterwards.

“Also him saying ‘I’m tired, we’re all tired in this pandemic’ yeah, dude, but there’s a difference between being tired from your workday and having a legit reason (disability/being pregnant) why you need to ask for a seat on public transport.”

The pandemic has been a gruelling time for everyone, the Redditor argued

However, others were willing to give the man the benefit of the doubt, with one writing: “Yes, OP said what he said. But can we stop acting like this woman is not without fault?

“She asked him, he politely told her no. It should have ended there. He doesn’t owe her a seat, and by keeping pushing after he told her no, the escalation is kind of on her. Even if OP ended up going on that diatribe later, she shouldn’t have done that. She could have moved on and asked someone else.”

They continued: “Although what OP said was horrible, it was more likely out of anger rather than actually believing any of it. Also, because she didn’t move on and ask someone else, and instead escalated with OP, it kind of gives the impression that she somehow deemed OP the ‘least deserving’ of the seat. Think about that for a second.”

Another agreed, saying: “Yeah, his comments were s***. But she should have moved on. What if he had a hidden disability but did not want to say that out loud?”

All we can say is, if you see someone less able to stand or who looks to be in distress when you’re on public transport, it’s always good to show them some kindness.