To think the other mum should have folder HER buggy?

[FairfaxAikman]

Our local bus company has introduced vehicles with exit doors halfway down.
It means that while they used to have a wheelchair space AND a buggy space, there's now only a wheelchair space, which is not so great for those of us in the sticks surrounding the city as there's always more than one person with a pram gets on from our village.

We don't often get the bus so don't have an umbrella type pram but I accept I have to fold it if the space is not available on the bus .

However today pissed me off a bit - the space was taken by a umbrella style pram with a child of about five in it. I thought the child might have mobility problems, but nope when it came to their stop (several miles down the road) the child got up and walked off.

The mother had watched me struggle to take the seat containing a sleeping DS off the frame, fold the frame and then wedge myself and DS (and seat) into one of the priority seats (as it was the only one with enough space for me to do this)

AIBU to think common sense would dictate that she should offer to fold hers so I don't have to struggle with mine?

Before anyone accuses me of being entitled I didn't say anything and certainly wouldn't demand this but I know if the situation was reversed then I definitely would have offered to fold mine.

@MauisHouseOnMaui my point was simply that some people are sfish and dint care, it isn't automatically because their child has complex needs or thry have mobility issues etc. Some people just don't care.
Someone with a buggy clearly tried to push in front of me in tbe queue to be second buggy and we'd have had to wait!

I feel your pain as I’m still using a carry cot and dread there being no space but she didn’t have to fold hers for you.
A half hour bus service on a Sunday in the sticks? In Cornwall some of us only dream about that

Madeira yeah it was never a problem on the dual space buses but since they've introduced central doors at the expense of the second space it's been a nightmare. I can see the point of that style of bid in the middle of the city to allow faster journey time but in the sticks the extra space is more needed.

As soon as I read this I was like must be Edinburgh 😂😂
It's an actual nightmare with these new buses cause half the time the driver forgets to even open the exit door!
Dreading the buggy wars when I have a newborn next month because I've seen how awful it is for others.
Other day there was a buggy left empty and another got on and had to put hers down to get on and the other buggy's owner came from downstairs with a kid that looked about four a couple stops later.

Yes she was there first and under no obligation to fold hers but it would have been a nice thing to do just like if there were no seats left and an elderly person got on, a decent person would offer there seat.

*their

See if there is a wheelchair in the wheelchair space and a buggy in the buggy space and a second wheelchair user gets on - does the buggy person have to fold or get off? I know morally they should fold if they can but do they have to?

I don’t use buses so I haven’t ever really thought about this. But my buggy doesn’t really fold. It’s in two parts.

Knew it would be Edinburgh too

She was a dick.

See if there is a wheelchair in the wheelchair space and a buggy in the buggy space and a second wheelchair user gets on - does the buggy person have to fold or get off? I know morally they should fold if they can but do they have to?

I don't know about buses elsewhere but on the buses where I live (Northern England) the buggy space can't be used by someone in a wheelchair as it isn't wide enough for a wheelchair so one side the chair would stick out into the aisle and there is no safety bar on the buggy space. Usually someone in a wheelchair would sit facing towards the back of the bus with both wheels against the bulkhead behind them, this in combination with the safety bar helps stop any movement of the wheelchair due to the momentum of the bus moving.

I'll see if I can find a picture.

And Im not sure if a wheelchair user could safely use the buggy space. The wheelchair space has a tall padded cushion to brace the back of the chair against but there's not one in the other space.

We don't often get the bus so don't have an umbrella type pram but I accept I have to fold it if the space is not available on the bus

I'd already had to miss two buses due to lack of pram space and living in the sticks the Sunday service is only half hourly.

Then you clearly need an umbrella buggy.

Have a look on Gumtree or your local FB group for a secondhand one.

Sometimes I have stuff under the pushchair which means it won’t fold flat (you might not realise or see it). Also, I hate having my child out of the pushchair on the bus as they will not sit still in a bus seat.

Oh ffs. No, technically she wasn’t obliged to move because she was there first. But sometimes it’s just nice to help others and not have an I’m alright jack mentality.
I definitely would have folded my pram down in these circumstances.

Where I live you have to get off for a wheelchair, regardless of whether you were there first.

This is sort of what our local buses are like.

The space on the right is for someone in a wheelchair, it's got a padded bulkhead which the back of the chair rests against and a safety bar.

The space on the left with the flipdown seats is the buggy space. It's more narrow than the wheelchair space and doesn't have the floor to ceiling safety bar.

Buggies can use the wheelchair space if it's not needed but if someone in a wheelchair wanted to board then they'd need to move.

The buggy space can only be used by buggies so if a second person in a wheelchair wanted to board and the wheelchair space was already occupied, they couldn't use the buggy space.

You know nothing of her situation. She was there first and that’s all that matters.

There are many reasons an older child may need to be using a buggy still - and many of those reasons will mean it is much safer to have him secure in a seat while travelling.

It isn’t her fault you have a peak that isn’t practical for public transport

@AndBreatheJustBreatheonly one person in a wheelchair in ours too, the buggy space isn't designed to securely take a chair. DS has a SN chair so bigger than a buggy and it's a pita in the buggy slot, let alone an actual wheelchair

I definitely would have folded my pram down in these circumstances

I wouldn't have. DD in her buggy means she is contained in one spot which makes for a far less stressful journey for all involved and once she is out she will absolutely refuse to go back in without a fight so when we get off the bus I either have to let her walk which means getting from the bus stop to the house will take forever going at toddler pace or I have to wrestle her in and listen to her angry screaming until she calms down. I have bruised ribs at the moment from a fall last weekend so actually lifting the folded buggy and then holding onto DD for the duration of the journey are two things on my list of "shit I am avoiding". Add in that I have paid my bus fare and have the same right to use the space at my convenience as any other pushchair user - i.e., first come first served.

If the driver allows it then I would turn my buggy sideways so a second buggy could fit in the space alongside, some drivers don't allow this though.

I suppose my point is twofold:

1. this situation rarely, if ever, occurred on the old-style buses
2. it's nice to be nice - I've gotten off several stops before mine and walked if I'm most of the way into town but another (non-wheelchair user) could use the buggy space more, whether that's another buggy or someone with a large dog.

I have been that lady and not folded my buggy despite someone giving me evils, because I had horrendous morning sickness and was barely keeping it together. I genuinely thought I would faint and/or throw up at that point if I moved. While she might have just been being an arse, it's also possible that she is barely coping for some reason or another.

I’ve always thought our buses were such a good standard and inclusive, it feels like the new buses have taken us a step back.

And they are HORRIBLE at the back seats, claustrophobic

It would have been polite for her to have folded her buggy but some people are selfish.
DD is way past the buggy years but I hated buses and prams/buggies except the bendy buses (we live in London) where there was more space for buggies along with wheelchairs.
People are generally pretty good with regards the space but some people are scarily protective around their shopping trolleys! I have seen people ask if they could move the trolley so they can get /
the buggy in the space but almost have their heads bitten off! They have had to ask as the trolley was blocking entrance to the space and could then be moved back again.

If I have bags in my buggy it won't fold, perhaps that was it? YABU to let this ruin your day

@WorraLiberty it's not so much about the umbrella buggy as that her baby was sleeping.

Same thing happens arond here. It's a pain, but I'll always fold my buggy if it's my toddler in there and another one has a sleeping buggy - especially as Ive also had to miss buses before with a sleeping baby, while other buggies sit empty or with much older children in them.

Good God this is why I drive you had to wait an hour and a half then disassemble your pram with a sleeping baby in it. Fuck that

Yep it does sound like hell.