Woman asks if she was wrong to refuse to give priority bus seat to mother and son.
Being in pain is hard, but is it okay to not respect your elders? When this woman doesn't want to give up her priority seat to an elderly woman, she takes to the popular Reddit forum to ask:
'AITA for not giving up a priority seat?'
I had a really long day. It was my first day without my kid in a while and I was using it to run errands, which included a bunch of shopping, so I had shopping bags with me. I had also been on my feet all day and my feet were aching, and I have an ongoing issue with my wrists that I take near-daily painkillers for, so holding the bags was killing me.
I got onto a bus, found a seat, and sat down. It was the only seat I saw that was available, and it was 'priority seating' (priority = disability, elderly, etc). I do know my wrists don't count as a disability (or at least, don't yet - we're still not sure why they hurt so much), but I was in significant pain and needed the rest.
A few stops later, a man and an old lady got on the bus. The woman had a walking stick and the man was sort of helping her walk. The man told me - didn't ask, TOLD me - to let his mother have the seat. He said it very loudly: 'EXCUSE ME, PLEASE LET MY MOTHER SIT IN THE PRIORITY SEATING.'
I just ignored him and looked out the window. He said it again, but louder, and now everyone was staring at me. I continued to ignore him, he berated me, and finally someone else offered their seat.
But the thing is, mine wasn't the ONLY priority seat. It's just that I'm young-looking and the other priority seats had older people.
But I was in a lot of pain, have a genuine issue (my wrists) that was incapacitating me, and I don't appreciate being bothered by a strange man in public when he could have just asked around until someone gave up a seat. AITA?
Let's find out.
supapossum writes:
YTA, people with walking sticks struggle with standing on a moving bus, you didn't have to hold the bags, just put them on the ground. If the elderly lady had fallen due to lack of a seat she could have been seriously hurt.
okayolive9438 writes:
Also, NTA, if you are in a lot of pain from running errands, you should get to use those seats. There were other folks who could have given up theirs, so this lady could sit. Too many people are denied reasonable accommodation because they are told they are not disabled “enough”.
singlevacation1948 writes:
OP you’re most definitely TA! And you sound whiny. 🙄. If you have a problem carrying bags, then maybe you should order your things online - ever heard of Amazon? And btw, do you even have a conscience? A man not giving up his seat for an elderly woman is just unspeakably rude.