A man has sparked a fierce debate after he refused to give up a seat to a pregnant woman, the Independent reported.
In a viral post shared on the Reddit forum, the man said 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.
''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,” he explained in the post.
A pregnant woman later joined the queue and "politely" asked whether she could sit on the chair as "she was going to have trouble standing the whole time."
However, the man refused to give up his chair reasoning that he needs it more because he has problems standing due to “bad feet and knees”.
The pregnant woman then asked him again and got the same answer.
The man then said that after two rejections, the woman ''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.'' Soon her husband made the same request, but the man said he gave the same response for a third time.
''At this point, the husband directly called me an a**hole but left me alone,'' he wrote.
The post divided the internet, with some sympathising with the woman, while others defended the man's decision, saying that the woman should have planned things accordingly.
One user wrote, ''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.''
Another commented, ''If you're pregnant and going to wait for over half an hour, come prepared and don't expect strangers with possible problems of their own to give up their seat.''
A third said, ''There's no way that I could have stood that long when I was heavily pregnant. But, I knew my limitations and would have planned ahead and not expected a stranger to give up his seat.''
Another added, ''If you are pregnant and going to wait for over half an hour, come prepared and don't expect strangers with possible problems of their own to give up their seats."
Etiquette expert Jules Hirst told Newsweek the couple's demand was "a bit extreme" and "you do not have to personally suffer pain in order to help others."
Psychiatrist Carole Lieberman told Newsweek that pregnant women are not entitled to take things just because they're pregnant. However, she said it is still chivalrous and kind to try to accommodate them.
For most pregnant women, standing for extended periods of time is generally safe. However, standing on their feet for too long can cause an increased chance of miscarriage or preterm delivery, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
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