Social decency apps? Has the whole world gone crazy!?
New seat alert app for pregnant commuters
21–30 of 78 posts
Re: New seat alert app for pregnant commuters
#22I read "New seat alert app for pregnant computers" and was disapointed after following the link. Such clickbait. So wow.
(Also, I don't get why you'd spend 4 pounds and hope for other people who are not pregnant to have done so as well, even though the same can be achieved by speaking. Not everything needs an app.)
Re: New seat alert app for pregnant commuters
#23Not to be that guy, but what happened to being a decent human being and just getting up for pregnant women and elderly people? Do we really need an app for that now? As a founder I really do see lot's of value in technology to drive our society forwards, but I just can't wrap my head around some stuff..
If I spot someone whom I think might be pregnant I just stand up without comment. I don't want to make the mistake someone made with a female relative of mine: "Oh, are you expecting? Would you like to sit down?", to which she replied with a smile "No thanks, I'm just fat".
This is what I do, and it wins for all sorts of reasons, not just the avoidance of mistaking flab for a foetus.
If you are doing this, the likelihood is that there is someone more in need of a seat than you, and possibly for invisible reasons (e.g. carrying a minor leg injury, first trimester of pregnancy, or just tired).
Some people in a certain age range (mid-late 60s) may be grateful for a seat, but don't want to think of themselves as old enough to warrant being offered a seat.
The person you think you are getting up for may not want to sit. When my wife was pregnant, she was inundated with offers of seats. She often refused, because on shorter journeys, the effort involved in sitting down and standing up again was greater than that of just standing all the way.
Re: New seat alert app for pregnant commuters
#24Earlier quoted context omitted.
Just politely ask someone if you could have their seat because you're pregnant? Which is like, what this app is doing.
This could end up being very awkward if the person needed the seat themselves for a medical reason, or just says no for whatever other reason.
The "easy" solution is that it needs to be acceptable to say "no" when someone asks you for your seat, regardless of whatever outwardly obvious physical conditions the two parties have.
Re: New seat alert app for pregnant commuters
#25Earlier quoted context omitted.
Just politely ask someone if you could have their seat because you're pregnant? Which is like, what this app is doing.
This could end up being very awkward if the person needed the seat themselves for a medical reason, or just says no for whatever other reason.
Talking to people can lead to awkward situations. It's not the end of the world.
Re: New seat alert app for pregnant commuters
#26Not to be that guy, but what happened to being a decent human being and just getting up for pregnant women and elderly people? Do we really need an app for that now? As a founder I really do see lot's of value in technology to drive our society forwards, but I just can't wrap my head around some stuff..
The last time I tried to offer my seat to a obviously pregnant women she responded with: "No thanks, I'm pregnant, not a cripple.". So yeah it's complicated sometimes ...
Yeah, my wife's said similar to me in the past.
Of course, you can't argue when they're pregnant. My wife's 8 months pregnant with twins at the moment; I think she's probably at the point of admitting defeat but she's so enormous now people dive off their seats from a mile away anyway.
Not a hope in hell of getting her to pay £4 for this, or of anyone in a seat having the app I'd imagine either.
Re: New seat alert app for pregnant commuters
#27Not to be that guy, but what happened to being a decent human being and just getting up for pregnant women and elderly people? Do we really need an app for that now? As a founder I really do see lot's of value in technology to drive our society forwards, but I just can't wrap my head around some stuff..
I have literally once offered my seat to a pregnant woman on the Tube in London and it turned out that she was just overweight round the middle and not pregnant. It was extremely embarrassing for both of us. I greatly appreciate the women who wear these badges: https://tfl.gov.uk/forms/23479.aspx because it makes it unambiguous. It can honestly be hard on a packed London underground train to tell the difference betwe…
That happens to me and elderly people. I never know when they are elderly enough to offer my seat.
Re: New seat alert app for pregnant commuters
#28I don't get it. The whole concept only works if there are people who have deliberately installed the free version so that they actually get the notifications. Seems like a whole lot of work and £3.99 for a very small chance of anyone actually noticing. If you're pregnant and want my seat then just ask me - I'll always happily give it up.
I don't think it's reasonable to assume that the company behind this app did no research into the problem. It's possible that they didn't, but it's also possible that they asked pregnant women what problems they faced and discovered that actually getting a seat by asking people doesn't work as often as we'd like to think. That would be a really interesting discovery - on the face of it the problem shouldn't exist, but maybe it actually does, and it's a big problem. Maybe women have found they've asked people and been verbally abused in response, so they're reticent about asking again in the future.
The lesson here for me, as a man who will never face the problem of not finding a seat when I'm pregnant, is that there are huge problem spaces that I have no insight in to.
This is an minimum viable product for a problem that I don't understand or have knowledge of. It won't work in every situation, and there are some huge problems to resolve in getting enough traction for it to be genuinely useful, but if this problem exists (and I'm willing to accept that it does) then I see this as a positive step forwards.
Re: New seat alert app for pregnant commuters
#29Not to be that guy, but what happened to being a decent human being and just getting up for pregnant women and elderly people? Do we really need an app for that now? As a founder I really do see lot's of value in technology to drive our society forwards, but I just can't wrap my head around some stuff..
I have literally once offered my seat to a pregnant woman on the Tube in London and it turned out that she was just overweight round the middle and not pregnant. It was extremely embarrassing for both of us. I greatly appreciate the women who wear these badges: https://tfl.gov.uk/forms/23479.aspx because it makes it unambiguous. It can honestly be hard on a packed London underground train to tell the difference betwe…
My approach is, if someone I would give my seat up to is standing near my seat, I'll get up and move without saying anything, as if I'm getting off at the next station.
If they're actually just fat, or if they don't consider themselves old, or if they don't speak English, or they're upset at my presumption they're weaker than me, or they're mentally ill or whatever, no problem.
Of course, if there are people between them and your seat, there's a chance someone different will take your seat. So it's not an infallible solution.
Re: New seat alert app for pregnant commuters
#30Every time a new app is released, I die a little inside. There are too many, this is crazy. Does anyone truly believe this model can scale?
This app is a perfect example.