Pregnant NZ Herald Focus reporter is forced to stand on her daily bus trip to work.
It's common courtesy to give your seat up to a pregnant woman on public transport.
But it appears many people have forgotten their manners.
That was the case for an eight-month pregnant mother who found herself in an awkward situation when a man refused to move his bag to allow her to sit down.
But instead of letting the situation go, the heavily pregnant mother-to-be decided to take matters into her own hands.
Dumbfounded by the lack of care, Brydie Lee-Kennedy ended up sitting on the man's hand and bag, leading to an awkward commute.
Well it finally happened in my 8th month of pregnancy, I just sat on a man’s hand and bag when he wouldn’t move them off the last spare seat on the bus. We’re now sharing a very quiet ride.
Lee-Kennedy compared the experience to The Hunger Games.
"I wonder what it's like to live somewhere with a less Hunger Games spirit on public transport," Lee-Kennedy added.
An eight-month pregnant mother who found herself in an awkward situation when a man refused to move his bag to allow her to sit down. Photo / 123rf
Her tweet has since attracted more than 17,000 likes, with many mothers-to-be sharing their own nightmare public transport altercations.
"When I was seven months pregnant, a guy literally shoved me aside to race past me to the last seat. Spent the next four stops finding various ways of calling him a c*** to his face. He said 'Is that how you'll talk to your kid?' I said 'No, because he won't be a c*** like you'," one mother tweeted.
Another wrote: "When I was pregs [sic] I asked a manspreader if I could share his bench seat on the bus and he gestured to his wide legs and said, 'No'. Like, 'Sorry, my balls need that space'."
Another said: "I told a man when I was eight months pregnant that I was going to give birth on his feet if he didn't let me sit down on the bus. He got up. And way to go for doing that."
One posted: "When I was about four months pregnant I asked a man if I could have his seat on the train and I felt really sick as I was pregnant. He said "well, you want equality, you can stand" I threw up on him. And his newspaper. And his laptop bag. The look of shock on his face was gratifying."
And another commented: "When I was eight months pregnant, a man on a packed tube asked me to move so he could sit next to his friend. I suspect my glare still gives him nightmares ... and my choice words ring in his ears."
In March a NZ Herald reporter faced a similar struggle when commuters refused to give her a seat despite being seven months pregnant and in discomfort.
Reporter Brigette Purcell faced a daily occurrence of having to hold onto the railings as heavy-footed bus drivers bump and grind their way around the city, and she says the attitude of many commuters is not acceptable.
Brigitte Purcell was seven months pregnant. Every day she stood on a bus as it travels at 80km/h along Auckland's motorways. Photo / Supplied
"As I sat at the bus stop, I decided to pull out my phone and film the experience - not necessarily to name and shame people who wouldn't stand, but to bring to light how common the issue is," Purcell wrote in March.
"One woman notices my presence but decides to look the other way while pretending I don't have a baby bump right under her nose. The woman sitting next to her looks up at me from her phone before turning back to it again. Fair enough, Facebook updates are important. I get it.
"To me, the attitude of people on public transport is unacceptable. People sitting there with their noses in their phones, ignorant to their surroundings. What is it going to take for people to actually have some manners to stand? Even when I ask to sit down I am made to feel like I am being rude.
"What frustrates me most isn't that it's painfully uncomfortable for me to stand. It's the fact that it puts my unborn baby at a greater risk if the bus crashes. Do people not understand this concept or are they just pretending to be naive?
"If you're not pregnant, disabled or elderly don't sit in the seat - unless you're willing to move when someone who needs it gets on board. But from my experience that's not usually the case."
