Several times now, on the Southern train service to London Victoria via Epsom, I have been asked to move from my seat to make way for someone. That sounds reasonable, doesn’t it?

Except that in every case I have been enormously pregnant, sitting in a ‘priority seat’ and other empty seats were available.

Because I don’t like confrontation with strangers, I have always acquiesced to the requests of my fellow commuters.  But for future reference, please bear in mind the following points before you ask a massive preggo to get out of the way for you:

  1. If there are other empty seats, just sit in one of those instead. I don’t care if you want a window seat, you’re not a 3 year-old.
  2. If you really want to sit in a priority seat, ask a non-priority person to make way for you.
  3. I have to sit in the aisle seat because it’s painful to manoeuvre in and out of a row of seats.
  4. Every time I have to get up, 5+lbs of foetus slam into my bladder and pain shoots through my pelvis as it starts to separate. And sometimes my hip dislocates, which is also fun.
  5. My balance is severely affected. If you ask me to stand up on a moving train, I will probably fall over.
  6. I need to sit with my back straight because I have sciatica – not twisted as I perch on the half a seat you leave for me after you sit down.
  7. I can’t put my shopping on the floor, because - being the size of a spacehopper - I can’t physically bend down to pick it up again. I’d hold it in my lap but I don’t currently have one.

 

Seriously, I’m only on the train for 10 minutes each way. Could you just let me sit down for that long? I’ve only ever sat down on trains when I’ve been pregnant and it became a necessity, and I’ve never asked anyone to move for me. Anyway, I’ll be on maternity leave soon enough, then you can have my seat for your laptop bag and briefcase.

The Human Spacehopper

Epsom