The first row of seats on each side of the buses in Chile is supposed to be "preferencial" for the handicapped, senior citizens, and pregnant women.

Today when I got on the bus, there was an open seat in one of these preferential seats, so being 37 weeks pregnant, I took it. The man next to me looked to be a businessman in his mid-50s. The other preferential seats were taken by middle-aged women.

As the bus filled up, the aisle began to fill with people who couldn't find empty seats. The "bien educado" (well-educated = polite) thing to do is for younger people to give up their seats for the older and less mobile people. This doesn't always happen, of course. And some people aren't happy about it, including the next woman who got on our bus today.

She was about mid-50s, I would guess, and a bit overweight, with a huge purse that was hanging under her arm. She decided to position herself in the aisle right beside me, hanging on to the back of my chair. This left her purse to bang me in the head every time the bus changed lanes.

I first just made a face, but then she just shrugged and it happened again. So I asked her to please lower her purse so it wouldn't hit me.

Then it happened, and I couldn't believe it...She told me I should give her the seat! She pointed at the sign on the window indicating that this was a preferential seat we were talking about. Thankfully she didn't tell me I was "maleducada" (poorly educated = impolite). I was speechless.

The man next to me quickly intervened and informed the woman that I was pregnant (couldn't she see?), then stood up to give her his chair. (Forget the fact that neither of them really was qualified for the preference of the chair anyway.)

If I had been in a hurry or had something else happen to me badly today, it probably wouldn't have been funny at all. But at least today I can look at it like this: Even though none of my clothes fit anymore, I guess I don't LOOK that big after all!