Airport chairs and angry pregnant women

[Champagneponies]

I'm at a major European airport for a changeover. I'm 8 weeks pregnant and have been having constant nausea and some lightheadedness.

Came off my plane a few hours ago and was feeling really really awful and thought I'd faint. Some airport staff showed me through the airport into the gates, were really lovely and put me on some airport chairs and told me to lie across them with my feet up. The staff were so helpful, remained with me for ages and eventually when I kept insisting I was fine, told me to stay there for as long as needed and to make sure I eat etc.

That was about three hours ago. I've had a good nap and I've just woken up to a woman with two children, and she was pulling my legs off the chairs and talking to me in another language. I looked around and there were free chairs across the room and (still kind of in a blur) asked what she was doing. She said she needed the three seats next to me for her and her children. I said I'm really sorry but I'm pregnant and have been feeling unwell, and that I actually haven't been upright for a few hours. I was starting to slowly gather myself and sitting up, honestly the nausea was HORRENDOUS and I constantly feel on the edge of vomiting. And the woman comes out with 'Im pregnant too and need a seat, god not everyone has to be so dramatic about it!'

I wasn't refusing to move btw, I was just awoken in a fog and stirring myself upright while feeling awful.

She looked livid and started huffing, tutting and ranting in another language at me.

Then someone nearby actually intervened and pointed out there were other seats (for three people) just a short distance away, so she walked away still ranting in another language.

So I laid back down and spent the next 10 minutes with her children running back and forth between us and jumping on my seats and shouting. She seemed full of rage that I dare be laid in the seats and didn't immediately jump up when she was literally lifting me out of her way.

I've removed myself, had a cry as I feel awful and full of hormones and am now trying to eat something. But the more I think about it, the more I'm so so angry at her.

I was literally put there and told to lay down by airport staff, and it's quite normal to see people sleeping at the airport. The space wasn't crowded and there were plenty of available seats in the area. I was polite and said sorry and was literally trying to move.

Not sure if I'm flooded with hormones but it feel she's totally unreasonable.

YABU - she's being reasonable and I should have moved quickly

YANBU - she shouldn't have moved my legs and could have given me some grace

Riiiight. I'm not English not if it was a dig at my nationality it didn't work.

I also said Belgian people are the rudest 'I have ever encountered' which is the experience I have had. Not sure that's for you to police

You both sound unreasonable. Either you’re well enough to get a flight and therefore don’t need a 3 hour nap in a public space OR you’re not well enough to get on a plane and need to make alternative arrangements and leave the public space.

She shouldn’t have touched you and should have more control over her kids because children running in confined public spaces is seriously seriously annoying.

Everyone in this scenario is unreasonable.

Would you really? What an exceptionally unpleasant person you must be.
If you REALLY would do that, I hope you would be arrested.
Or maybe you're just a keyboard warrior?

I told her to fuck off. She was fucking off. She fucked off

Some people are just bloody awful.

Tbh I may have tried to wake you up too if I was pregnant and travelling with kids and you were hogging three seats. She wasn’t to know you were pregnant and unwell. If you’re that sick that you’re about to pass out and vomit everywhere then you need to go to first aid, and if you were that sick that 3 hours later you still couldn’t sit upright how were you going to manage the flight? Pregnancy nausea is a special kind of hell so I understand how you were feeling but I don’t think you have any right to be angry in this case.

Did you get your connecting flight? I would be concerned at people sleeping for any length of time in an airport, whilst waiting for another flight. This other passenger would have assumed you were being entitled, taking up several seats so that you could sleep. She shouldn't have tried moving you though.

This is the situation where afterwards you regret that you haven't been enough clear-headed and didn't struggle with all your might to sit up and throw up on that woman's lap.
You can just fantasize and try do that if there is a next time.

She was rude and shouldn't have touched you. If she was in need of a seat she should have asked staff to ask you to move. All that said, while traveling while pg is difficult it's absolutely nothing on traveling with kids. Then add traveling with kids while pregnant which is just about the most stressful thing ever. You've had a 3 hour nap, it might be years since she slept that much at one stretch and you have no idea yet what that can do to a person. I'm not excusing her rudeness, she was rude, but I tend to cut women with young kids a lot of slack. When you have kids no one in this earth gives a f*ck if you have nausea or cramps or headaches or diarrhoea, no one helps you and you have to suck it up.

She wasn’t very kind.

However, if you are so poorly you’re sleeping for 3 hours straight on plastic airport chairs, and flight attendants need to help you off a flight you shouldn’t be flying. Aren’t you getting a connecting flight or have you nowhere to go? It’s really strange you had no better option for 3 hours.

This is the problem with society. No one takes responsibility for their actions. When did it become acceptable to lie down in public across seats?

She was a dick. I think unless you’ve had it people can’t understand just how horrendous pregnancy nausea can be. It is truly truly awful.

Given that there were loads of other seats available she was really rude to disturb you - she could easily have gone to the free seats but chose to be an arsehole.

I wouldn’t turf anyone off a few seats. I would silently judge her behaviour.

There should be a first aid room at the airport that you should access

This.

She was pregnant too, and with young DC to manage.

I hope you don't have to take public transport to work, the first trimester is a total bugger.
Hopefully you'll feel better for the second trimester.

When airport staff guide you to them and tell you to lie down and sleep ? OP didn’t have to take responsibility - she wasn’t feeling well and the airport staff took over. And there were other seats available. The woman was being a dick.

It wasnt easier with 3 kids to sit on empty seats rather than pick a fight with somebodt in non empty seats?

How did that pan out for her? Not too well, she’d have been better taking 30 seconds to look for the other empty seats instead of touching a stranger with no knowledge of their back story.

OP deserved the seats just as much as the other woman - she had no right to assume otherwise. If she had an issue she could’ve taken it up with airport staff who would’ve been able to explain the situation.

The airport staff were unreasonable. They should have taken her to first aid.

@MagnoliaParks “OP deserved the seats”

OP deserved one seat.

Why only one seat when the airport has provided enough for people to have multiple seats? Where is the one seat per person rule published?

Some people spend 24 hours plus in an airport - or even 12 hours after a day awake because of delays. Why shouldn’t they be able to sleep in a place where there is room for them?

Why does your pregnancy trump her pregnancy plus 3 young kids?

She was bloody awful. Her & her kids behaviour was unacceptable. Some people are just a nightmare.

Hope you're feeling a little better