When it comes to common courtesy, most of us are taught to give up our seats for the elderly, pregnant and people with disabilities - but a man has argued there should be exceptions to this rule.
Taking to the popular Reddit forum Am I the Asshole (AITA) - a space for people to anonymously seek advice on their pressing moral conundrums - the man explained that he refused to give up his seat to a pregnant woman due to his own health issues.
Writing under the username u/Constant_Tune4461, he shared his predicament in a now-viral post that has since received over 23,000 votes and attracted more than 3400 comments.
Titled 'AITA for telling a pregnant woman to sit on the ground instead of giving her my seat?', the man explained that he wanted to secure a spot in the front row for his nephews' high school graduation, so arrived at the venue early and brought his own camping chair and provisions to wait in line.
"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 wrote.
About 40 minutes before the venue was due to open, a pregnant woman slipped in next to him at the front of the queue and asked politely if she could have his chair, anticipating she would struggle to stand for the duration of the wait.
The man said he apologised but refused the woman's request, citing his own health issues - "bad feet and knees" - before returning to his entertainment.
"She asked me within five 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," he recounted.
"She asked me again within two minutes and the answer was the same. She got a little mad at me and said that she was going to be struggling the whole time."
At this point the woman's partner intervened, once again asking him to vacate his chair by reiterating that she would have difficulty standing for an extended period of time. It was then the exchange became terse, the man claimed.
"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 in the ground. At this point the husband directly called me an asshole but left me alone," he concluded.
While the predicament quickly ignited a debate among Redditors, the majority sided with the man and agreed the woman should have made her own arrangements if she knew she was going to be standing in line.
"She's not dying, she's pregnant," one responded, with another adding: "Need a chair? Bring a chair."
"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," said a third, with a fourth agreeing: "Health condition or not, it's his chair that he brought with him... the entitlement some people have is just amazing to me."
"If she didn't have a ride home, would he be obligated to give her his car?" one joked, while another acknowledged: "Like, what would have happened had OP [original poster] *not* had the chair? If she needed a chair that bad, why didn't they bother the staff?"
Others pointed out that while a pregnant woman asking for a seat is acceptable and par for the course, in this situation it became a problem when she refused to take 'no' for an answer - as well as her partner becoming verbally abusive when they didn't get what they wanted.
"They asked politely, then didn't take 'no' for an answer and became abusive. This is a very dangerous line to take. No must mean no," one weighed in.
"You give a pregnant lady a seat on the bus or train because it's not her fault that she doesn't have a seat. However, in any other situation, it's entirely your fault if you didn't prepare for there to be a seat. You can't expect to take someone else's," another explained.
