Asked to give up my seat on bus

God OP.
You could have at least explained.

Apply that common sense then because you're not right now. OP was assuming every other young person was able bodied, she said so herself which I previously quoted for you but you've conveniently ignored that. Yes it does matter that OP made assumptions because she has come here annoyed that someone dared make assumptions about her and asked her to move.

As I said, OP is now unreasonable to say no but she is to assume everyone else is able bodied. She made assumptions as much as the person that asked her to move.

Maybe try some reading comprehension as well as applying common sense - although reading comprehension is seriously lacking on MN.

Really? So you'd just assume they're all able bodied just because they're younger? Yet you have an issue with someone assuming you were fine to move? 🙄

You were definitely nbu.
I wonder if she chose you because you are another woman..hoping for a bit of empathy.

And I would bet my last penny with you. It was quite clear to me, applying common sense, that you meant that if she asked she’d find a younger more able bodied person, not that you were assuming that every single young person was able bodied. And anyway I don’t think it really matters if you were making assumptions. You were still ok to stay seated in the circs.

I guess that my thoughts are now that both I and the pregnant woman had a need to be sitting down. But her need didn't trump mine. I just happened to have a seat and she didn't. I honestly don't know why she asked me specifically and do wonder now if people are right and thought that I would be more likely to say yes.

I don't think that I owed it to her to make her not having a seat my responsibility by asking people to move on her behalf.

You did nothing wrong or unreasonable @Motnight

And, IMO, it reflects well on you that you were worried enough about the situation that you asked a group of women what they thought. You weren't entitled or arrogant, but concerned because the young woman did need a seat.

And I suspect you are of the generation who had it drilled into them to consider others on crowded buses & trains.

It used to be required in the 1950s and 1960s for children to give up their seat to an adult if they were paying half price for their ticket.

And I think @Anonymouseposter that the reason apparently fit & able younger people don't offer up seats nowadays is because they didn't have this drummed into them, and surveilled by the adults around them, including the bus driver & conductor.

It wasn't a bad thing: we were taught to be aware of those around us, and consider their needs, not just our own.

Even at 67, I still have the automatic reaction to offer my seat to someone who looks older or more infirm than me. @Motnight is only a few years younger, and I'd guess that she is second guessing herself (hence her OP) because of similar social training.

It's a pity her motives are treated by some with suspicion. I think had she not felt unstable, she would of course given up her seat - unlike any of the younger passengers around her who were clearly not considering the pregnant woman's needs.

Of course not, but 95 is old. Early 60s isn't.

It used to be required in the 1950s and 1960s for children to give up their seat to an adult if they were paying half price for their ticket. Some young healthy adults would say they were okay, thanks. In the scenario given by OP both passengers had need of a seat so OP wasn’t unreasonable to suggest asking someone else. The pregnant woman should really have asked someone younger but it’s very difficult just from looking at people to know if there’s a reason why they need a seat.

"and could she ask one of the younger more able bodied passengers"

That is an assumption from OP that the other "younger" people are more able bodied.

I also don't think you were rude, and I agree that you didn't owe it to her to find a seat on her behalf. But I think it would have been nice to do it, and sometimes it's good to do something for someone else that's nice, rather than because you should. So as I said, if I'd had the presence of mind (which I might not), I would have said something jokey like, "This lady's not able to stand, which of you lovely fit and able youngsters would like to give her a seat". I'd have done that on the assumption that she was lacking in the confidence which age and experience have given me. I wouldn't have felt I owed it to her, I'd be doing it out of kindness not a sense of obligation.

Pregnant women, especially in third trimester are actually less stable on their feet and more prone to falling in case of a vehicle suddenly breaking (compared to themselves if they were not pregnant).
Also, a bad fall poses a very high risk for pregnancy.
Priority seats are actually marked with illustrations of pregnant woman (amongst illustrations of othe vulnerable people) - that should be a hint too.

Wow, what's with the attitude. I certainly didn't 'love' wearing one, and even when very visibly pregnant almost never got offered a seat (daily commute 30-40 mins on a crammed tube). A colleague advised to get the badge and honestly it helped especially if I positioned myself next to the priority seats.

Yes?

But that's exactly what was done to OP first.

I have a badge that says Please Give Me a Seat. I have no issue with people saying No, I really need to sit too.

I have issues with people in priority seats who ignore being asked and stare at their phones. Or, on a bus, don't let you sit in an available priority seat because they don't want you to sit next to them.

You were decidedly allowed to say no, so don't feel bad.

If I’d have been sitting in that carriage you would have been given mine. Incredible that no one you offered you a seat.

Me too. If I can reach the hanging straps I have no purchase on the floor.

I have this problem so have to be careful about where I stand on a bus. I have to be near the seat pole thingys or I can't hold on.

What about short adults? The hand grips are too high for them too.

@SleepingStandingUp could you reread your post please. Read it 3 times and doesn't seem to make sense. Not trying to make a point, just confused. Thanks.

Nobody can know anything but it's very unlikely she'll go down so far. At 62 there's no way I have to be given seats, and I'm not athletic like her, just normal ie walking 10 miles or cycling 25 with ease. Over 50s are often cast aside and patronised, so I say good for her.

Wobbly isn't necessarily mobility issues. In summer '23 when I was 59, I tripped, just one of these freak occurrences, gaining a black eye, lump on forehead, 2 grazed knees and a bloody nose. A bit shaken but wouldn't have needed a seat. In early pregnancy would have liked one, but not in late pregnancy. The time I DID need a seat, on a train between Glasgow and Edinburgh, on crutches following ski accident, nobody gave me one.

You can't possibly know that.