I had an appointment in Holles St today and got the bus in. Mine is one of the first stops on the route, so it was almost empty when I got on. I took the single seat immediately behind the stairs, the one in front of but not part of the priority seating. The priority seats are doubles directly behind the one I was in, one on either side of the aisle. The bus filled pretty quickly (wet morning) and 4/5 stops before mine, an older man got on, probably his early 70s. I had a quick look around and there were a couple of seats right at the back, and a good few young, able bodied people sitting, including 2 in the priority seating behind me. Anyway, I was listening to my radio with my headphones in, but the man bore down on me, saying something (I'm not sure what, I couldnt' hear him) but clearly wanted me to get up to let him sit down. I probably would have offered him my seat anyway since no-one else looked to be moving, but I obviously wasn't levering my enormous bump out of the seat fast enough and he was getting very annoyed with me :o( I also have a lot of pelvic pain which makes me slower moving, and I know there's no way he would have known that, but he wasn't at all happy that I didn't leap out of his way. Another man who was standing pointed out a seat to me further down the bus, but it would have been too awkward for me to get to it and get up into the high seat so I just stood for the last few stops. I have no idea if the older man even noticed I'm pregnant, but I do have a fairly significant bump, and I think I look more like the 8+ months I am than that I've spent those last 8 months eating pies!
A friend of mine told me a while back that in London, women often wear baby on board stickers on public transport - probably more for other people to avoid bumping and jostling them than for anyone to be so gallant as to offer a seat, but I'm starting to think they could be useful here too, if only so we Preggie Peggys could avoid arguments with older curmudgeons...
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