Heavily Pregnant Woman Slammed For Refusing To Give Up Chair For Teens
There's no doubt that being pregnant takes a physical toll on a woman's body, but a mom-to-be has been criticised online for taking a rest in a massage chair and refusing to get up when a customer wanted to use it.
Reddit user u/golden_eyed_cat explained in a post on February 10 that she often gets tired as a result of being eight months pregnant, and while visiting a local shopping mall, fatigue kicked in and she needed a break.
The U.K.'s National Health Service website highlights tiredness as an early sign of pregnancy in the first trimester caused by hormone changes. However, it doesn't end there as the extra weight later on in pregnancy can cause fatigue.
Additionally, if a woman wants a good sleep after a long day, she might struggle getting that in the third trimester as the large bump can make it difficult to get comfortable.
In the now viral Reddit post, which was deleted by the original poster (OP), but re-posted by moderators, she explains that the ice cream shop she was in was busy and there was nowhere for her to sit down.
"All of the tables surrounding the shop, as well as some nearby sofas were taken. Because of that, after getting my ice cream, I decided to sit on one of the two massage chairs that were close, and it eat there," she wrote.
"Once I started eating the snack, I got approached by a couple that was in their late teens, or perhaps early twenties. They asked me to get off the chair, since I wasn't getting a massage, and they wanted to receive such a service together, which I refused to do.
"In return, I offered to leave once I finished eating, of if they found me a different place to sit, since I could not stand for more than a few minutes at a time, and had a relatively large dessert that I wanted to finish."
The offer from the OP didn't go down well with the couple who wanted a massage, who felt disgruntled that the woman felt she could do what she wanted as she's expecting.
The post continues: "She told me to stop acting as if I was ill, that just because I was pregnant, the world did not revolve around me, and because I was not paying for a massage I had no right to sit on the chair."
Adding that a security guard even sided with OP and said the couple could wait or take turns using the one available chair, the woman was accused of "being selfish and preventing the owner of the chairs from earning money."
Pregnancy is notoriously exhausting for women, so registered dietician Yelena Wheeler suggests ways to help them maintain their health and fitness during pregnancy.
Wheeler told Newsweek: "Pregnant women are literally carrying the future, therefore, it is always advisable and polite in our society to lend a seat to a pregnant woman.
"Pregnancy can be a very exhausting time in a woman's life. The extra calories, calcium, iron and protein that is needed to grow a fetus is important for the mother to possess. Without proper nutrition in the forefront, the pregnant woman will be depleting parts of herself for the fetus.
"Proper balanced meals, consisting of complex carbohydrates, protein and healthy fat is crucial in preventing exhaustion."
Wheeler suggests that taking breaks and allowing time for self-care isn't selfish when the body is going through so much change.
"Pregnant women need to remember that they are literally building another human being inside of them, and that takes up a lot of their energy. Recognizing that fact and allowing oneself it rest is key."
The post was originally posted on the AITA (Am I The A******) thread, where posters seek advice or different perspectives, and Reddit users weren't shy in providing their opinions on the situation.
One wrote: "You were sitting in a chair meant to provide a service, you weren't using the service and refused to move when someone wanted to pay for the service. You don't get special treatment because you're growing a human."
Another person provided a different perspective to give context: "I wouldn't go in and plonk myself in a hairdresser's chair because I was exhausted."
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