[img_assist|fid=1328|thumb=1|alt=preg]I just finished watching an old George Carlin stand-up routine, in which he railed against Baby on Board stickers. According to the gent, those stickers are meant to tell people that everyone knows they're crazy drivers, but please would they straighten up their driving for a while, because there's a baby on board. Erm, yes, us new parents do tend to think the sun rises from our progeny's hinies.

I was still getting rid of my remnant giggles when I found this interesting story at Feministing. Apparently Tokyo rail companies are trying to encourage commuters to give up their seats for pregnant women.

Yahoo reports that the companies are handing out badges announcing the happy news.

Tokyo rail companies are providing pregnant women with badges in the hope of prompting other passengers on the Japanese capital's crowded trains to offer them seats.

The pink and blue badges reading: "There is a baby in my belly" are being handed out at stations around the region to try to make commuting and other train journeys easier for pregnant women, who are often left standing. No proof of pregnancy is required.

Only last week, when my commuter train was packed to its gills, I overheard a passenger telling another how he never offers his seats to pregnant women, or anyone who was not visibly, obviously handicapped. Apparently he'd been offering them to a lot of heavyset women who were not pregnant, and had been at the receiving ends of tirades.

Maybe it was the some form of that rationale that caused people never to offer me a seat when I was pregnant. Once, a gentleman even pushed me aside to get on to the train.

That last sentence made me smile - no proof required. Sans that maybe women who claimed they were pregnant but not visibly so would've been banished to restrooms, armed with pregnancy kits.

But I personally think it's a great idea. Some non-pregnant women will abuse the system - that's a given. Some might be offended that the system treats pregnancy on par with the disabled. I still think it's great that pregnant women at least have the option to exercise, rather than having to stand around hoping for someone to get off.

Now, maybe I should write Metro to see if they can implement something similar here in DC.

Contributing Editor Priya Ramachandran also blogs at Words on Water

Image Credit: Sxc.hu