I agree with tinkerbell, and I cannot believe this thread is still going.

Imagine if jjj75 had just had the courage to SAY SOMETHING in the waiting room? One of the men would have moved, she would have sat down, and QL would have been spared all this. But no. She says nothing and ASSUMES the men are all barbarians because they do not think the CORRECT way (i.e. like her) and they could not anticipate her specific desires. Maybe some of these men had other things on their minds (like the health of their wives or unborn children) and were not fully attuned to jjj75 and her needs.

The worst, in her view, are the locals, whom she implies are a bunch of monsters that might beat pregnant women when they ask for their seats in a hospital. Of course, there is no evidence of said behavior except for a vague reference of an altercation between two men at a bank.

Asking for assistance is also an impossibility, she insists, because no one in the entire hospital is willing to help her. Not that she asked a large number of staff; again because she ASSUMES it, it must be true.

Anyone see the pattern?

btw I asked my wife about this. She laughed and said she cannot believe a Western woman being too scared to request a seat. So she asked her expat friends at our son's Western school. They also responded with blank stares. One (American woman) said that when she could not find space at the hospital mentioned she spoke to the nurse when they take the blood pressure and they always found a more comfortable space in one of the empty physician's offices where she could lie down.

But then I guess if you want to be helpless it is not hard to convince yourself you are.