Priority seating on tube

[ATmummy]

Hi all,

Quick rant does anybody else find that when travelling on the tube other passengers deliberately avoid acknowledging you as they are reluctant to give their seat. I find this so rude and ignorant especially when they’re sitting in a priority seat!! Really aggravates me in the mornings as I’ve always been the first to offer up my seat!

Anyone else experience this?

...only been done a thousand times before...
just ask for a seat. most people will get up for you if you ask kindly but assertively.

If you are pregnant just ask for the seat. If they are sitting in Priority Seating they should move.

I think people deliberately ignore everyone else out of habit. But I think if they sit in a priority seat they should look out for other people that might need it.
I was only once offered a seat when pregnant (I was happy standing) but it was a normal seat.
I think you could go up to someone in a priority seat and ask them to move (mind you they may have a not obvious condition that means they need to sit too).

Everyone's in their own zone on the tube, and you don't know who needs a seat. Just politely direct a request to the general area of priority seating.

People will always say something on here like for gods sake just ask for one but you aren't always met with a nice response. If you have social anxiety it's horrible. I'm pregnant now and have asked for seats and on one occasion had someone refuse and be really rude don't think they even needed it and someone else saw and gave me theirs and I had to sit by this person for like an hours train journey was horrible. I heard a storey on here of a man actually kicking a pregnant woman in the stomach for asking for a seat not in the UK but still this stuff comes into your head.

You never know what response you'll get. I agree though that most the time people are nice enough but I do find I'd rather struggle and stand as it can be really awkward.

If there's a guard on the platform, ask them to ensure you have a seat. This is advice I was given by a station manager after I fainted on the tube in early pregnancy while standing.

I was with DD1 on the tube one evening and she pointed to a man sitting on a priority seat and said very loudly "Mummy why is that daddy sitting on a mummy seat why? But it's a mummy seat he shouldn't be sitting on a mummy seat" I'm sure he heard as he lifted his head slightly but avoided eye contact. I was already sat on one of the middle seats pregnant with a toddler on my lap so there was no need for him to move really. I just found it amusing I'm sure the other passengers did too.

But they're for anyone who needs a priority seat, not just pregnant women. You can't make judgements about how much a person needs that seat just by looking at them. Plenty of people, of all ages, have invisible disabilities.

Because in reality nobody wants to give up their seat. Yes they SHOULD give it up, but they dont want too. Wearing a 'bump on board' badge makes no difference.

If you're really struggling, then ask,

Do you need a seat or do you want one?

Just ask for a seat if you need one, my partner has a physical disability, he cannot travel on the tube standing as he would be guaranteed to fall over, so he asks when he gets on. If no one gets off he hops off if he can or sits on the floor.

I have a balance disorder as a result of an eardrum problem. I probably don't look like I'm particularly in need of a seat.

How pregnant are you, is it very obvious?

You’d probably give me the evils

My cancer doesn’t show and find days I really need a seat.

Though I would probably manage to ignore a rude child banging on inaccurately about ‘mummy’ seats

I think I'm the only one who hates sitting down on the tube (pregnant or not) the chairs are awful. but either way just ask. If someone with priority needs it to, ask someone else.

I don't think people notice other passengers on the tube, everyone's on their phones!

@Lilliamfullstop you're talking about priority seats yes? I don't think it's amusing that your kid possibly embarrassed someone who was sitting there...also, teach your DC that they are not "mummy seats".

Sorry, that should have been @LillianFullStop

Are you wearing the baby on board badge? If not then get a badge.

I’ve actually seen a pregnant woman struggling for breath on the tube and asked the person sitting in the priority seat to get up. I got angry looks from a buff fit guy but replied that it was obvious that hugely pregnant lady was struggling and embarrassed to ask. He got up but was spitting feathers... who cares??
In my home country pregnant and people with disabilities have the legal right to jump the queue (I.e. up to them to do so) so this sort of stuff in the UK really gets me annoyed. It’s so discourteous not to offer the seat if you’re seating in the priority seat - duh.......

When I was pregnant and needed a seat on the tube I'd just say to the carriage in general 'could anyone spare their seat? I need to sit down' - that way I was not embarrassing anyone in particular.

I never got left standing - people were accommodating and polite.

I am very wary of targeting 'the person in the priority seat' having worked with a youngish woman (early 20s) who looked fine at first glance but had MS and was fairly frequently shamed for getting the lift at the station, sitting in priority seats on the tube and using the disabled loo.

Meh my epileptic mother with a mostly metal foot doesn't look disabled. Neither does my agoraphobic grandmother.
There's a girl I know who looks super healthy. Who's joints spontaneously and painfully dislocate.

Priority seating isn't specifically for pregnant women. It's for people that need it.

Ask the train/bus in general if anyone can spare a seat, if you really need one.