Pregnancy makes nearly everything more challenging, so riding the New York City subway while with child makes it the ultimate struggle. Jessica Grose became a mother within the past year and decided to make the pregnant woman's commute less daunting by chronicling the experience.
She characterized rush hour on the A, C and E trains as hell, specifically calling E train passengers "awful." B and D train passengers were far more chivalrous, as were those on the N and Q trains. Taking the 6 train was easy because she always took it during the middle of the day when cars weren't crowded. She recalled wanting to strangle unsympathetic Park Slope dads "with their tote bags" while aboard the F train.
Still, her F train experience was eclipsed by those aboard the 1, 2 and 3 trains. During one 2 train venture, she caught a vicious, Ron Artest-style elbow from a non-pregnant woman, who used the dirty move to help her claim an empty seat. The battle for that one empty seat is like a battle in the paint between the Pistons and Bulls, circa 1989. Not even a woman carrying a child is safe.
Hopefully, more pregnant women will be fortunate enough to travel on the B and D or N and Q trains, where they'll be at the mercy of elderly women who have been through the experience before, or teenage boys who love their moms.
[via The Cut]
