MONEY MORAL DILEMMA. Would you give up a £50 train seat for a pregnant woman?

geri1965_2

shonarose wrote: »

Its the lack of compassion that is sad here. Rather than debating the petty details of whether or not you can reserve a seat beforehand, whose taxes are paying for what, whether the woman should have considered the scarcity of seats on UK trains before getting pregnant - the simple fact is that there is a human being in front of you who is suffering (and she would be, if standing for any length of time), and if it is within your power to alleviate that suffering without causing any lasting damage to yourself (no, you're not expected to help if you have health issues yourself), why on earth wouldnt you just respond to this need, regardless of how much money you had paid or how "deserving" the woman is?

Well said. You either have manners or you don't, end of.

englishmac

blue_monkey wrote: »

The timing might well be 'offset' but should there not being enough people in xx years time when your state pension is due and there is no money to pay it, then what happens? What about the NHS care you will be (possibly) requiring if not enough people are paying NI and they suddenly stop free health/dental care/prescriptions for the elderly and you've not pension to pay for it. The money it not set aside in a pot just for you in your later years, we are assuming/hoping that in that many years time there will be enough people paying Tax & NI to pay our pensions and NHS costs. And if there are not enough of these then we get no money or help!!

What if you have a serious accident or become seriously ill? Their taxes will be paying your health costs and sick pay.

These unborn babies might seem like a 'drain on society' to some but they will be the ones contributing for the countries upkeep when we are all old and inform and possibly needing help or even a seat on the train because you are no longer able to drive.

Treat others as you expect to be treated yourself. You might not be pregnant or wanting kids but one day you'll be old and it might be you needing to sit as you cannot stand and karma will come back and bite you in the !!!!. Of course, you'll be on here or somewhere else complaining about the ignorant gits who made you stand for 5 hours. :rolleyes:

The implication was that I should be grateful in advance to the unborn child and do it/its mother a favour as it will be paying my way when I am old. It may not - it may live on benefits all its life, leave the country to work abroad, etc. My point was that I don't feel grateful as I have contributed in full up to now and should rightly be able to expect to receive reciprocal support in my old age. Likewise if I become disabled or seriously ill I will make the best of it. I have paid for healthcare before to reduce the amount of sickleave I had to take at the time - I would do what I could for myself and if I couldn't, and free healthcare wasn't available, I would suffer.

What happens if there is no money to pay it, it isn't paid and I won't receive a state pension/access to healthcare etc. I expect the country to be unable to pay me a living pension when I retire so I am working hard to do something about it now.

At no point did I say I would not give up my seat for the lady in question. I would. I just don't believe it should be expected. Apology accepted :rolleyes:. And no, I wouldn't complain about others not giving up their seat for me if it was me standing for 5 hours. I would book before travelling or accept it as my lot if I couldn't. I take responsibility for myself.

Fromage_Free

Of course I would give up the seat - no hesitation.

To all the misreable and selfish folk - I hope your mother was treated better than you would treat another mother-to-be. Pathetic!

I'm not a mother myself but it is plain to see that giving up your seat is obviously a very small gesture that would make a big difference to someone. If only all good deeds were so easy to make

Golaup

Would you accept £50 to make a heavily pregnant woman stand for hours on a train? If not, why would you make her do it for £0 (since you're never going to see that money again regardless)?

If on the other hand, you would accept £50 to make her stand for hours...well, 'nuff said.

Trialia

Frankly, I think this hypothetical woman would have been better off booking a coach ticket instead of a train one - cheaper and a guaranteed seat, even if it does take longer to get where you're going.

scubaguy

FAO Robpw

Hi Rob,
Meant to say - I was sat in a table seat could keep my legs straight

Tiger_greeneyes

I find it very odd that people seem to be assuming pregnant women are too dim to consider taking responsibility for their own plight and upgrading themselves into a seat in first class if there aren't any unoccupied seats elsewhere on the train. It's not rocket science, it's what I'd do if I'd not had the opportunity to pre-book a seat on a jam-packed train

hundredk

bobpitbull wrote: »

I absolutely would stand, yes. To all the idiots above who say that they wouldn't - you're all soft. Real men would always give up their seat. Justifying your actions by saying that she should've booked a seat isn't right - it's not the woman that you should be thinking about but the baby inside her... it's the baby that's at risk, after all... maybe you think the baby should've booked a ticket online?!?

Sometimes I'm disgusted by how people have become so cold-hearted lately.

You assume the person who has paid for the reserved seat is a man? Isn't it the woman who's got the baby inside her that should be considering the risk to her baby rather than strangers who happen to be in the same train? I'd say its irresponsible for the pregnant woman to risk putting herself in such a situation.

Tiger_greeneyes

hundredk wrote: »

You assume the person who has paid for the reserved seat is a man? Isn't it the woman who's got the baby inside her that should be considering the risk to her baby rather than strangers who happen to be in the same train? I'd say its irresponsible for the pregnant woman to risk putting herself in such a situation.

I couldn't agree more. One of my points was her baby's welfare should be of more importance than any train journey. Yet this point of view makes me selfish, miserable, ignorant, a moron etc etc

robpw2

scubaguy wrote: »

FAO Robpw

Hi Rob,
Meant to say - I was sat in a table seat could keep my legs straight

ah i see .