A man, who refused to give up his seat to a pregnant woman despite repeated requests, has sparked a fierce debate online. The man also shared the minutes of the encounter with the lady on Reddit forum that has gone viral now. Explaining how he took his own camping chair to queue for his nephews' high school graduation as he did not want to be standing during the 40-minute wait he wrote, "My nephews both graduated from high school this morning and I wanted to sit up front so I camped out a bit in front of the entrance. I brought my folding camping chair and my headphones to listen to my show."
Later a pregnant woman joined the queue and asked whether she could sit on the chair as she would have trouble standing the whole time. The man, however, refused and said due to "bad feet and knees" he would not be able to stand.
The woman repeated the request to which she got the same answer. She then got infuriated and asked her husband to intervene.
The husband also approached the man and received the same answer.
“About 40 minutes before the school would let us inside, a pregnant woman got next to me since somebody let her in line (I assume her partner). She asked me within 5 minutes (politely admittedly) if she could have my chair as she was going to have trouble standing the whole time. I said no, sorry I need it more (bad feet/knees) and went back to my things. She asked me again within 2 minutes and the answer was the same. She however got a little mad at me and said that she was going to be struggling the whole time and asked her partner to tell me. He asked me himself (politely) and I again responded that sorry but I need it more and suggested she could wait in their car or just sit on the ground,” he wrote.
The husband was evidently furious. “At this point, the husband directly called me an a*******e but left me alone,” he wrote further.
The post has left the internet divided, with some sympathising with the woman, while others defending the man.
"NTA. You refused to give up the chair you brought because you needed it due to your own health conditions. I do feel for the woman, but she and her partner should have brought their own chairs and not assumed they were entitled to yours," commented one user on the post.
"Health condition or not, it’s his chair that he brought with him. The entitlement some people have is just amazing to me," wrote another user.
"If your pregnant and going to wait for over half hour, come prepared and don’t expect strangers with possible problems of their own to give up their seat," wrote third.
"NTA. I was pregnant last year and as I got bigger and knew when I couldn't stand for long , I always made sure to have a plan. Like being my own chair or find something to sit on," wrote a fourth.