To tell people to fold up unused buggies on buses?

[Sayyouwill]

Bus has a pram bay (left) and wheelchair bay (right). Today on the bus there was a man with his 5yo son who was climbing in and out of his buggy, hardly really using it and didn't really need it. A woman got on with a big silvercross pram and had to sit in the wheelchair bay as the man and unused buggy were in the pram bay. A wheelchair user got on at another stop and the man with the unused buggy refused to collapse his as his son was 'sitting there' (actually sat on another seat at that point). The woman with the silvercross mentioned she was on her way to a Drs appointment and really needed to get there on time, but would just have to get off as she couldn't collapse hers one handed and obviously she had to move out of the wheelchair bay.

Now to me, he should have collapsed his buggy and it would fit in the leg space in any seat, she could have say in the pram bay, and wheelchair user could have sat in the wheelchair bay. But no. After he kept refusing to move, she was close to tears saying she would just get off so I offered to collapse her pram for her while she held her tiny baby.
The wheelchair user was really embarrassed and offered to wait for the next one, the pram lady was obviously upset and embarrassed herself and the buggy man didn't give a shit while his son ran wild.

I ended up staying on the bus a few extra stops to help her set up her pram again when she got off (it was still in town where I needed to be but just on the other side so no real inconvenience). But this has been annoying me all day!

Why the hell didn't he move?!?

Too damned right. Maybe he didn't know how to collapse it and was too 'manly' to own up.

He sounds like a twat. YANBU

Man +dc+buggy should have been manhandled into the luggage rack.

Lucky you with a new baby to hold!!
Hope you haven't got the smit now op!!

Buggy man was a cock.

I wouldn't judge a five year old in a buggy as a) children can look older than they are and b) special needs. BUT he clearly wasn't sat in the buggy at the time so it was taking up a space for absolutely no reason

I can't understand why the bus driver never steps in and says anything.

That was lovely of you OP. I don't suppose you're in SE London? You'd be very handy when doing the nursery run.

Buggy man was out of order!

That really gets on my tits, especially when the bus driver tells someone with a child in a buggy that they can't get on because the buggy space is already taken.

I can't understand why the bus driver never steps in and says anything

Probably because she doesn't want to start or get involved in an argument. Whoever the bus driver ends up upsetting will end up complaining

I was getting more pissed off about this all day lol.
I thought I may have been me being unreasonable but I'm glad it's not!

The 5yo may well have been disabled, I just meant that they clearly weren't using the buggy as they had no issue walking/sitting on the bus. That was wrong of me to assume he just didn't need it as I don't know anything about him, maybe he needs it when out and about. But regardless, it should have been collapsed unless it was needed.

Grrr

Oh and no, I'm in the north east lol

This is a total pet peeve of mine. As long as my 2 year old is awake, he's out the buggy and in a seat, buggy folded up and in the luggage space so someone else can fit in the buggy bay if needed. I was on the bus the other day, 2 year old sound asleep in buggy, and another lady was sat up the back with her child and the empty buggy still in the bay. The driver drove past two women with prams wanting on because the bay was "full". Wound me right up! But to not fold it even for a wheelchair is just horrible.

As someone who uses a walking aid this pisses me off big time, in fact today I got on bus and there was an empty buggy in wheelchair bay, I had to fold my walker and cram it plus myself into a narrow standard seat while owner of buggy just sat and smirked at me, would have loved to have slapped that smirk off her face!!

YANBU unless the buggy was being used to store shopping or the child needed to be restrained in it to exit the bus.
Where possible I always keep my 2 year old in the buggy on buses. It's safer if the bus stops suddenly or crashes.

@Winterview store shopping? Sorry but I still don't think that shopping should take priority over people. The woman and her baby would have missed their doctors appointment so that shopping could take up the place where she should have been able to use?
Even if the child needed to be restrained to exit the bus, far easier to unfold a buggy than reassemble a pram.

My kids are old enough that there were no buggy spaces when they were small ( on the old route master buses), so you HAD to collapse the buggy and hold the baby. But we had lightweight umbrella fold buggies then, not the great tanks that separate into two unwieldy parts that people seem to have these days. Having watched someone forced to take one of these things apart yesterday, I have mild sympathy with people not wanting to do it, but if your child isn't using the space and someone needs the space more than you, then suck it up and dismantle the thing!

@MrsSchadenfreude that's exactly what she did. She never argued with the wheelchair user or tried to make a case or something, I was the buggy man who did have a stroller type thing that collapses into a single, slim unit.

This is the sort of reason I can't even risk using a bus where I live - so many people on the bus I use (witnessed when still at work) would have buggies/strollers in the space but the children wouldn't be in them yet wouldn't fold them for people with prams.

My DD is 14 weeks so has to be in a flat pram which doesn't easily fold so it would be waiting for the next bus or getting off if I was in the wheelchair space and a wheelchair wanted to get on (highly likely where I live).

The guy was an absolutely arse. He should have folded and made room for her.

I disagree about it being easier to fold with a toddler than a baby. Until mine was about 12 months I used to put her in the sling/baby carrier so I could fold and carry the buggy on and off buses. I've used the same buggy from birth, it lies flat and folds but takes up space folded. Most buses don't have space to store a folded buggy or pram.

I agree shopping shouldn't take priority over people, but I have sympathy for people struggling with lots of bags and a wild toddler and a folded buggy.

What a massive wanker he was. I feel sorry for both the wheelchair user and the silver cross pram lady.

I bet he didn't know how to fold it

I can't use public transport with ds now but when he was younger I always felt I had to keep him in his sn buggy even when I would have liked to have tried him on an ordinary seat because I was worried about someone moaning about it.