For pregnant women in Japan and London, there's a solution to all of those rude people who cast a lingering glance at your thickened middle section. Instead of leaving the public wondering if it's a baby or a few extra cookies (the suspense!), preggers now have the option to slap an "I'm pregnant!" badge on it.
And hey — I get it. People are rude. I'll never forget the time when my husband and I were vacationing in the Bahamas when I was about five months pregnant. Wearing a tight black tank top to proudly show off my new bump and garnering kindly congratulations from the elderly crowd, I headed to the bus line for our off-resort day trip. Suddenly, a young man in his 20s literally sprinted past me, knocking me off-balance in his haste to beat the crowds to the bus.
He made it on all right — and nabbed the last seat. I spent the rest of the bus ride standing next to him in the aisle, my belly exactly at his face level, where he stared unapologetically at it for an hour.
I'm not sure that the baby badge would have helped me at all and I'm not so sure I would ever be comfortable wearing one. I'm of the mindset that pregnancy is a part of life, not a disability of any kind, although I will say that my momma raised me right — I was taught that it's common courtesy and good manners to give up your seat (or at least offer it) for pregnant women. I've done it myself and I would be mortified if I ever caught my kids or husband sitting next to a pregnant woman standing in a public place.
Of course, even a badge doesn't always help apparently hapless men when it comes to pregnancy. The Japan Times reported that even when women took to wearing their baby-on-board badges, the majority of men had no idea what they were for. Mission not accomplished.
I say we lose the badges that most people will never even notice anyway and go back to the good ol' days when pregnancy got the respect it deserved. Or, better yet, women slap on some badges that let the world know what they are really thinking when they're pregnant...
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