'I refused to make son give up bus seat for elderly woman - he needed it too'
When it comes to overcrowded public transport such as trains and buses, most of us would happily stand up to allow a vulnerable person to take our seat, as long as were able to do so.
But one mum has said she refused to let her 17-year-old son stand up on a recent bus journey despite being asked to by an older woman - because she claimed the teenager needed to sit down.
The mum explained she was taking her son to a therapy session on the packed bus, and while they began the journey standing up, she quickly ushered her son into a seat as soon as one became available because he was "feeling dizzy".
The boy sat down as he was feeling dizzy (stock photo) (Getty Images)However, the mum - who stayed standing - was then approached by an elderly woman and her adult daughter, who demanded the teenager stand up and give her mother the seat.
In a post on Reddit, the woman said: "My son has weekly therapy appointments that I take him to. Unfortunately, my husband let our daughter borrow his car and then had an emergency at work so he had to use my car so my son and I had to take the bus. It wasn't ideal, but I'd rather the bus than miss an appointment.
Teen 'kept as slave, starved and beaten' sues adoptive parents and authorities
"While it isn't my place to share why he goes to therapy, I will say that he will often forget to eat. I usually make sure he's fed, but due to the mess in the morning, it slipped my mind.
"The bus wasn't too crowded but all the seats were taken. My son wasn't doing too well and I could tell he was feeling dizzy from hunger and the bus. So the second someone got off their seat, I sat him down. I then tried to find a chocolate bar I had in my bag. While this is happening, I noticed an elderly woman and her adult daughter standing beside us. I didn't pay much attention until the daughter tapped me on the shoulder.
"She asked if my son could move so that her elderly mother could have a seat. I felt really bad, I really did, but my son was not doing great and standing would make it harder. I had found the chocolate and he was eating it slowly but if he stood up right then, I can assure you he would've fainted.
"I apologised to her and explained that my son wasn't feeling well."
The mum admitted the elderly woman "looked really tired", but said she couldn't make her son stand up when he was at risk of fainting if he did. But the woman and her mother still weren't happy, with them even branding the mum as "entitled".
She added: "She rolled her eyes at me and said that she saw him standing earlier and that he's a young healthy teenage boy - he'll be fine. I apologised once again and told her that he wasn't feeling well.
"The daughter told me to look at her mother and I admit, the poor woman looked really tired. But I couldn't. My son had started to lean against me so I told the woman one last time that I was sorry and to ask someone else.
"I then heard them both whispering and calling me an entitled b***h. And when we got off the bus, a woman that got off with us said that a teenage boy can handle standing more than an elderly woman can and that she hopes someone treats me like that when I'm her age."
Commenters on the post were firmly on the mum's side, as although they said it "makes sense" that the woman and her mother asked the teenager to move, they should have accepted their first answer.
One person said: "It totally makes sense that they asked, but they should have accepted your answer. Your son legitimately needed the seat, despite being young. This is a frustrating scenario that people with invisible disabilities often face."
Death fears for Emmerdale's Sarah as teen rushed to A&E after exposing secret
While another added: "If your son fainted on the bus he could have been seriously injured. Keeping him seated was in the best interest of everyone on that bus."
Read more similar news:
Comments:
comments powered by Disqus
