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Should pregnant women get priority seating on the CTA?

chicagonow.com - 21 weeks ago - 526 views

Some pregnant CTA riders take a stand about having to stand on the CTA.

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I love chairs. Love them. Love sitting in them, especially when riding buses and trains.

But I'll give my seat up to anyone who tells me they're not feeling well and could use a breather. Whether that person is pregnant, high as a kite, exhausted or unable to stand for long periods, they just have to ask me sincerely. That's the thing though. They have to ask. I don't think that's too much of an imposition. If someone's having a hard time, I doubt that requirement will stand in their way.

1 points
by lanarama 21 weeks 5 days ago

Definitely. They're carrying a little life-form inside their bellies.

You'd be surprised. Plenty of riders don't feel the same way.

Pregnant women should never NOT be given a seat when possible. A little common courtesy can go a long way to making their lives a little easier as they haul around the extra freight.


[the CTA] is better able to accommodate riders who require priority seating such as seniors and expectant mothers.

From the CTA website. Clearly the CTA classifies expectant mothers as requiring priority seating, announcements are made regularly on buses and trains about this.

Expectant mothers don't always make the cut. The Tribune published a story earlier this month about CTA etiquette that said signs on the CTA state "federal law requires priority seating be designated for seniors and people with disabilities."

Unfortunately, there's not always electronic announcements on the bus.

1 points
by Koji 21 weeks 4 days ago

It is common decency to give up a seat to a pregnant woman, but I think we're unfortunately becoming less decent of a society very quickly, to ourselves, and to others, like pregnant women on public transportation. This is not to imply that there isn't any kindness out there. Both hope, and desperation can coexist.

1 points
by korpios 21 weeks 4 days ago

Hell no. I'm not going to give up my seat to someone with a "disability" she inflicted upon herself. I'd get up in a heartbeat for someone with a genuine disability, but *pregnancy*? If you can't handle the commute, either don't take mass transit or don't get pregnant. (And I'll laugh at anyone who claims pregnancy isn't a choice; it has been since RvW, and it's your own fault if you don't exercise your rights.)

1 points
by Zoner 21 weeks 4 days ago

korpios, is that said in jest? Give up a seat for a pregnant woman? How about give up a seat for any woman? That's what I was taught.

1 points
by korpios 21 weeks 4 days ago

Zoner: I hope you enjoy standing all the time, then; half of the population is female, if you haven't noticed. I'll continue to sit when I can, and enjoy a good book while I'm at it; I did pay for the ride, after all.

1 points
by Koji 21 weeks 4 days ago

wow, korpios, i too hoped you were joking, but apparently not. you paid for the ride, as did the hypothetical pregnant woman that also paid her way. you were a fetus at some point, too, and if your mother had been on a train with swelled ankles and an aching lower back from carrying your smarmy self wouldn't you want her to be as comfortable as possible??? or would you just blame her for getting knocked up?

1 points
by korpios 21 weeks 3 days ago

Wow, logical fallacy time. You can't reason from past "what-if" statements, because we are who we are *here and now*. Furthermore, no one has ever "been a fetus", because a fetus isn't capable of rational thought; a fetus is precursor tissue, but it's not a person.

So yep, we both paid for the ride; whoever got to sit down first gets to keep the seat, and most people understand that. Any pregnant woman who wants to whine about the awful rigors of standing mass transit should get the hell off at the next stop and hail a taxi. None of us like to stand, but only *some* have the nerve to demand a seat based on a *self-inflicted condition*.

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