Pregnant passenger asked to prove it.

[Antman]

<PEDANT> It is bad enough that anybody under the age of 30 seems unable to speak without including the word 'like' at least once in every sentence they utter, but this is the first time I have seen this disease spread to the written word. </PEDANT>:roll:

Here here!

 

[Sprinter153]

Presumably the reason why she didn't just ask for a seat in standard class is because talking to strangers is a mortal sin in the London commuter belt?

There would have probably been tumbleweed blowing about in Coach A.

All too often the 'there are no seats in Standard' (like it's an excuse anyway) brigade take one look at Coach F or whatever and park themselves in FC, and are usually quaffing orange juice and fruit cake by the time an inspection starts. The good folk of Maidenhead and Slough appear to often head to FC anyway and hope for the best.

My rule of thumb is, if you haven't got an appropriate pass or other travel authority valid for FC, if you have the courtesy to ask me, fine. Otherwise, sorry but no.

I can see this wouldn't work for some of the more lackadaisical guards who aren't visible.

 

[miami]

Here here!

Those that throw grammatical stones should be wary

 

[AlterEgo]

Those that throw grammatical stones should be wary

I think that was a joke.

 

[GrimsbyPacer]

My pregnant mother was standing on a crowded bus a good decade or two ago. Some idiot with a rucksack swung around without noticing her and hit her straight in the womb with it. She started having pains later that day and had a miscarriage a few days later.

Did the murderer get caught?
I absolutely hate it when people don't give seats to pregnant women, they should get upmost prioty. People should also be more alot careful.
It must be very distressing for you and your mum.
I had 2 nieces who died before birth, it was heartbreaking.

 

[timbo58]

There would have probably been tumbleweed blowing about in Coach A.

All too often the 'there are no seats in Standard' (like it's an excuse anyway) brigade take one look at Coach F or whatever and park themselves in FC, and are usually quaffing orange juice and fruit cake by the time an inspection starts. The good folk of Maidenhead and Slough appear to often head to FC anyway and hope for the best.

My rule of thumb is, if you haven't got an appropriate pass or other travel authority valid for FC, if you have the courtesy to ask me, fine. Otherwise, sorry but no.

I can see this wouldn't work for some of the more lackadaisical guards who aren't visible.

Spot on IME, far too many staff (who, to be fair are often browbeaten by silly managers with no real life on board training) take the path of least resistance and call it 'using their discretion' or 'good customer care'. I disagree -discretion/customer care is weighing up what can be justified to all customer, staff and management and making the correct decision not simply bowing down all the time.

 

[Bletchleyite]

Did the murderer get caught?

Manslaughter. Murder requires an intent, or reasonable expectation, to kill.

 

[AlterEgo]

Manslaughter. Murder requires an intent, or reasonable expectation, to kill.

Killing of an unborn baby is child destruction, but this requires an intention to kill, in the same way that murder does. Manslaughter doesn't apply to an unborn child.

 

[BestWestern]

Killing of an unborn baby is child destruction, but this requires an intention to kill, in the same way that murder does. Manslaughter doesn't apply to an unborn child.

Without wishing to dip into what is of course a very emotive topic, accidentally striking a person, pregnant or otherwise, with luggage in a confined space is neither manslaughter, or murder, or in this case child destruction. A case for compensation on the grounds of negligence might be a possibility I would imagine, but criminal charges would surely be very unlikely.

People do need to be careful, absolutely, but of course that applies to all of us. Heavily pregnant ladies could be forgiven for deciding that crush loaded rush hour public transport is perhaps a place to avoid during pregnancy. I think I would! Anyway, as I said, a difficult subject and rather off topic.

 

[J-2739]

<PEDANT> It is bad enough that anybody under the age of 30 seems unable to speak without including the word 'like' at least once in every sentence they utter, but this is the first time I have seen this disease spread to the written word. </PEDANT>:roll:

I kind of inserted 'like' as a joke to mean the sentence in a different way, but whatever.

 

[dviner]

Heavily pregnant ladies could be forgiven for deciding that crush loaded rush hour public transport is perhaps a place to avoid during pregnancy. I think I would! Anyway, as I said, a difficult subject and rather off topic.

Going back to the original post:

A pregnant mum has branded a rail company 'cold-hearted' after she claimed a ticket inspector asked her for proof she was expecting.
Claire Hillard, who is seven months pregnant, took a seat in first class on Monday after rail delays at Maidenhead Station caused a crowd of people to rush for the train.
She said for the safety of her unborn child she decided to sit in first class to guarantee a seat for her commute into London.
The 36-year-old said when the Great Western Railway ticket inspector arrived she told him she was happy to pay the difference for the seat, but was shocked when he asked her for proof she was pregnant.

(my bold)

The other alternative, of course, being "I am concerned that the crowding on that train will compromise the safety of my unborn child, so I shall not board that train and, instead, board a later one that may be less crowded".

 

[jon0844]

I kind of inserted 'like' as a joke to mean the sentence in a different way, but whatever.

Surely you mean What. Ever.

 

[Harbornite]

My pregnant mother was standing on a crowded bus a good decade or two ago. Some idiot with a rucksack swung around without noticing her and hit her straight in the womb with it. She started having pains later that day and had a miscarriage a few days later.

Sorry to hear that. Some people have no awareness of their surroundings.

 

[J-2739]

Surely you mean What. Ever.

But if I did that, wouldn't I need to add a '?' also, so it would be 'but what? Ever!' (no sense )?!

Headache

Let's keep to topic though!

 

[Antman]

Did the murderer get caught?
I absolutely hate it when people don't give seats to pregnant women, they should get upmost prioty. People should also be more alot careful.
It must be very distressing for you and your mum.
I had 2 nieces who died before birth, it was heartbreaking.

Murderer? Sounds like a minor accident to me that in this case had tragic consequences, a bit of perspective is needed!
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---

Those that throw grammatical stones should be wary

Fair point, but not fare point!

 

[317666]

I agree that attitude doesn't help at all, when my daughter was pregnant last year she commented on how helpful so many people were. I don't know why nobody offered the lady in this incident a seat although it might not have been apparent that she was pregnant?

The wording of the article gives the impression that she made a beeline for first class rather than trying to get a seat in standard - if you ask me, she should have spoken to the TM beforehand.

 

[Via Bank]

The wording of the article gives the impression that she made a beeline for first class rather than trying to get a seat in standard - if you ask me, she should have spoken to the TM beforehand.

I find it hard enough to find the TM on an 8-car HST at the best of times, let alone when it's busy. And (presumably the same goes for many in thread too) I have never been pregnant, which no doubt makes it even more of a pain.

 

[Abpj17]

The wording of the article gives the impression that she made a beeline for first class rather than trying to get a seat in standard - if you ask me, she should have spoken to the TM beforehand.

But pretty impossible to find a TM on an 8 car delayed, rush-hour train heading for London...(although he seems to have managed to navigate through for tickets!).

Being pregnant and therefore a larger girth than average she'd have had an even harder time trying to travel through carriages with standing passengers.

 

[Barn]

Without commenting on individual cases above, I have sadly have reason to read quite a bit about miscarriage and its causes. It is only extremely rarely caused by accidental impact to the abdomen. Sadly it is common in early pregnancy and can happen without warning, and thus it is very much more likely to be a tragic coincidence. Many women attribute a miscarriage to a physical action (often blaming themselves for a trip) but the cause is often something else entirely.

The preferential treatment for pregnant women is more to do with their exhaustion, balancing issues, sickness, etc. It is still very much deserved.

 

[JamesTT]

It is a sad state of affairs that she had to go to first class and nobody offered their seat to her.

 

[AlterEgo]

It is a sad state of affairs that she had to go to first class and nobody offered their seat to her.

She went to First Class first by my reading of the article.

 

[J-2739]

It is a sad state of affairs that she had to go to first class and nobody offered their seat to her.

Don't they have priority seats then?

 

[richw]

Don't they have priority seats then?

4 on the left and 4 on the right at each carriage end, so 16 per carriage!

6 standard class coaches as an assumption so 6 X 16 priority seats minus 8 for the wheelchair carriage which doesn't have any at one end. So only 84 priority seats per normal set in standard. But whether someone will give up a seat is a different matter altogether.

 

[JamesTT]

She went to First Class first by my reading of the article.

Perhaps from experience of no one offering a seat maybe?

 

[AlterEgo]

Perhaps from experience of no one offering a seat maybe?

Why not read the article and see her reasons for yourself?

 

[J-2739]

4 on the left and 4 on the right at each carriage end, so 16 per carriage!

6 standard class coaches as an assumption so 6 X 16 priority seats minus 8 for the wheelchair carriage which doesn't have any at one end. So only 84 priority seats per normal set in standard. But whether someone will give up a seat is a different matter altogether.

But don't you think they should put signs up, or include in the train announcement "there are priority seats reserved for the elderly, broken bodied or expecting mothers" just like some commuter services in Tokyo?

That would help, but no doubt people will just ignore that.

 

[221129]

But don't you think they should put signs up, or include in the train announcement "there are priority seats reserved for the elderly, broken bodied or expecting mothers" just like some commuter services in Tokyo?

That would help, but no doubt people will just ignore that.

All priority seats should be signed.