I HAVE A BABY YOU KNOW!

[HarrietKettleWasHere]

Now, possibly we’ve all been there...

But AIBU to think that this woman yelling this at me on a station platform was just ridiculous and was IBU to laugh and say ‘that’s nice’.

Picture the scene, last week, crowded tube platform, rush hour, everyone trying to get home. Huge delays, a tube hasn’t been for about twelve minutes. Everyone is getting increasingly pissed off.

Woman with a small child in a buggy is getting pretty irate, sighing dramatically, muttering obscenities etc. She then pushes that ‘information’ button on the platform and when it gets picked up demands to know when the next train is coming (the board is already displaying 10 minutes)

Operator tells her ten minutes. She tells him that is disgusting, she’s got a child, they ought to be sending taxis operator clicks off.

She loses her shit, and screeches I ‘JUST WANT TO GET HOME!!’

I said, ‘yes, I’m pretty sure we all want that’ because she’s irritating me and the platform is chockablock so I cant move away.

She then yells ‘ I HAVE A BABY!!’

I sort of laughed incredulously and said ‘yes, that’s nice’

, I NEED TO GET HOME NOW! THIS IS NOT FAIR ON MY CHILD, I SHOULDNT HAVE TO PUT UP WITH THIS!!’

Child (looked about a year or so so not a baby baby) sat impassively in buggy for the duration.

She didn’t get her taxi, but (rightly so) everyone moved aside when the train finally came so she did get on with the buggy. Lots of people didn’t and had to just wait for the next one.

She kept up with the dramatic sighing the entire way back though.

Agree with @NothingOnTellyAgain. OP you sound a bit nasty.

Sounds like she was having a crap day.
Don’t think you needed to laugh at her really.

Welcome to Mumsnet, StayPuft...

(you might want to go easy on the personal attacks on OP)

Ariadne yes they changed the signs

Because people weren't including pregnant women as they weren't on the picture - heavily pg women obviously the stick person is vv pregnant!

Which you seem to have more or less agreed with so not sure what that's about

The sad thing is it was most likely the delay was caused by a " jumper". My friend works on the railways and says the most common cause of delays is this. Thank goodness that in the UK we actually follow safety procedures to the letter and not put the public in danger. Some people are such entitled twats.

I second @staypuft and a few other pps. She sounds like she was having a bad day and / or a panic attack. Having someone friendly to talk to might have turned her day / mood around, but you chose to judge instead. Congratulations. I'm guessing you don't have kids?

"why does pregnancy entitle someone to a seat over someone else tired and aching"

And there it is

Yes women who are heavily pg should be offerd seats on public transport becasue their balance is often not great, the consquences if they fall can be more severe, and many pregnanncies come with associated illnesses (high or low blood pressure etc).

Women who don't want a seat can refuse them of course.

I find the idea that a heavily pregnant woman definitely is not vulnerable as just a matter of course, odd. That old people yes, people with disabilities yes, people who are tired yes, women who are heavily pregnant - nope. Of course lots of old people or people who look disabled often decline seats when offered - many still seem to exclude "auto offer" for heavily pg women though which is why the signage was changed (I'm mainly northern line so more aware of that - it used to have old / disabled and not pg).

Oh I see Aridane is one of those posters.

Think will disengage.

I'd have told her tough shit, everyone wants to get home and the tube during rush hour is no place for children so next time could she try to make other arrangements for her travel or wait/travel sooner and travel either side of the busiest times of day.

Anyone that tries to take a buggy on the tube during rush hour is a tad entitled fucking imbecile imo. And yes, I know sometimes its unavoidable, but the buses are more buggy friendly and my mum used to plan her trips to hospital with my sister in her big disabled grown-child pushchair around rush hour. She'd travel earlier and wait around or wait around and travel later to avoid travelling at those times.

So you would go up to a woman having a panic attack with a young child and tell her "tough shit"?

Because women having panic attacks can behave as this woman did ie irrationally and inappropriately.

Christ almighty.

Congratulations. I'm guessing you don't have kids?

Don’t link this to having/not having kids. Plenty of us that don’t would have been sympathetic to someone obviously having a bad day.

And some mothers are superior bastards who enjoy seeing other mothers struggling as it makes them feel even more superior.

Eliza9917 why should a mother take the lesser, longer bus option, are they lesser a person, is their travel cheaper?

To purple and telly, yes, you're both absolutely right. My annoyance got the better of me there

Other point is that loads of people don't liek mums with little kids on buses really either.

This whoel thing is an issue with mothers of young kids being seen as selfish and taking up too much room.

You see it over and over again and when it's other women doing it on here it's extra depressing.

Shortest disagreement ever.

Thanks ten.

OnlyFoolsnMothers Tue 20-Nov-18 16:46:24
Eliza9917 why should a mother take the lesser, longer bus option, are they lesser a person, is their travel cheaper?

Because buses are more accessible and user friendly to buggies and they are less packed than the tube. They are also less likely to have issues with crushing.

No way on earth would I take a child on the tube during rush hour.

Maybe some parents choose to travel outside of the rush hour (which can go on for 2 hours or more) because of feeling judged and unwelcome by the general commuting public. That's if they have the choice to travel off peak.

Urgh slightly different scenario, but today I was in a car park and a woman was waiting for a parent and child space.
Only problem being, the man hadn’t unloaded his 2 kids, or trolly full of shopping into his car yet.
The woman decided that instead of just staying on the left hand side and indicating that she wanted his space so that people could go around her, that she would pull into the centre of the road meaning that the 20+ cars behind her couldn’t pass her so were just stuck in a line waiting for a man, 2 kids and a trolly full of shopping to get into a car, and for the man to reverse so she could have his space.
When someone asked if she’d mind just pulling over to one side slightly she shouted “I do have 2 children you know. I need this space”

@StayPuft how do you know the OP hadn't bought a homeless man a coffee? Or is front line emergency services, helping people all day? Or a charity volunteer? Or helped an old lady cross the street? Etc etc

On behalf of this city crammed full of dreamers spending all their money on second rate housing and coffee for homeless people , disgusting public transport and breathing in fumes I'd like to say thank you for fucking off, please don't ever come back. It's crowded enough without you and your chip.

I left about 3 years ago and drive everywhere now. The stinking hellpit of public transport is not my problem anymore

I'm sorry but this woman lost all sympathy from me when she said the station should send taxis.

Entitled much.

As well as ridiculous.

🤔 I appreciate that it’s hard to travel with a child. However, nobody forces anyone to live in London or use the tubes...or have a child in the first place. If you choose to do any of the three (or combine them) then you relinquish your rights to shout at anyone else about it!