Aibu to say this woman on the bus was petty?

[Solasshole]

So, was just on the bus home. Bus was fairly empty. On the bus there is a woman with a baby in her pram sitting in a disabled seat. There are 5 other disabled seats nearby that are empty. There are also numerous other non disabled seats nearby that are also empty. Another passenger gets on the bus, she has mobility issues from what I can tell. She approaches mum with pram and requests that she moves from her seat so she may have that very particular disabled seat. Mum does so quickly and then has to awkwardly move pram while bus is moving and ends up having to stand as other disabled seats nearby wouldn't let her be close enough to pram without blocking the exitway of the bus.

Aibu to say this disabled woman getting on the bus is just fucking petty? There are 5 other seats marked for disabled persons nearby that are unoccupied which would have been more than suitable for this lady. Why go and ask the mother to move because she just HAS to have that particular seat?!

FWIW, I am not the mother in this situation, just a somewhat bemused passenger observing. I have had a very bad day in the public transport department and this level of pettiness over a bus seat just made me go

(Yes I know disabled woman has every right to request whatever disabled seat she likes be vacated for her but come on!! there where 5 specifically marked disabled seats available to her!!!)

YABU. I am disabled. If the certain seat had a way to rest my head that others don’t I may have needed the seat. When I’m getting more and more tired my brain and language centre shuts down. I am unable to express myself eloquently and become monosyllabic. You just don’t know the woman’s reason for wanting the seat or reason for being abrupt. I am so lucky I don’t need to use public transport and can drive (when well enough). Just thinking about using public transport fills me with a great deal of angst.

@campingitup You have no idea why the woman wanted / needed that particular seat. But you give yourself a gallop around in your high horse if it makes you feel better after your hard day.

And you have no idea why the woman with the pram might have needed it. Having a baby and being disabled are not mutually exclusive you know. Don't assume her moving means she was ok to either.

I'd of told her no, she'll have to sit somewhere else as I need the seat too. I am young (mid 20s) but have arthritis and dodgy knees!
But even if I didn't have any ailments, I would've said no, there's a seat next to me or plenty of others.

whilst I understand that certain disabled seats can be more suitable than other disabled seats, what do disabled passengers do if there’s already another disabled in that seat? Surely they just can’t demand everyone moves from that specific seat if the other passenger needs it too.

Another disabled passenger **

@Lhastingsmua

Its really hard! To be honest i hated it, hated explaining why i was being fussy in front of a bus full of people everyday and playing a weird form of disability top trumps. I got on busses sometimes, realised there were people in that seat and pretended to have forgot my purse or something so i didnt have to get on. I sometimes missed doctors appts due to taking so long to get there

Basically i hibernated due The combination of only being able to use a bus with The inability to plan, worrying people wouldn't move, not wanting to face having to explain to passengers when people looked at me like i was trying to steal their clothes off their back etc.

The bus was my only option to access the wider outside world 90% of the time including medical help, friends etc. I developed massive anxiety about leaving the house, Luckily my physio ended up doing home visits in the end.

Im now able to drive etc and havent got on a bus since

It's a tough one .I work in care so i do get there could have been a reason she did need that seat or she could have just been being petty .Only she knows it .She could have been more polite .Having a disability does not give you a free pass to be rude or obnoxious to others .ItsReallyNotOk that is bloody shameful behaviour that those women did and i would say assault they bruised you .And pulling you up without your permission who even thinks that is acceptable. I would report it to the bus company they should have ctv footage and see what can do done you should not have to put up with that .

@Fallofrain I am so sorry to hear that, I can definitely understand why the other passengers made you feel anxious and hesitant to even leave the house.

I swear they make public transport as unpleasant as possible to force us all into driving and never looking back!

Perhaps the woman also had a non-visible disability? The kind that means she wasn't able to adapt where she sat or be as polite as you would like?

Very petty!

5 disabled spaces on a bus? Were there actually any seats??? Round here there's one space for a wheelchair and you might get 2 pushchairs in that but they'd have to fold for someone using a chair. Otherwise everyone has the same sort of seat?

5 disabled spaces. 5 seats. Not 5 spaces for wheelchairs.