I take the public transport to and from work every day. These days, because the tennis open is on, it’s hard to get a seat on the trams. This is fine as long as I can find a spot to stand and not have to sniff in the next person’s BO or get strangled by someone else’ hair.
My problem isn’t so much standing. It’s sitting. As long as I can get a seat, I’m happy. However, I also like to give my seat up for elderly people, pregnant women, disabled people, etc. That’s where the problem comes in.
See, as an Asian, I tend to look younger than the locals. So when I see a woman whom I think could be younger than me or just slightly older, I just think, tough luck. But at the same time, I’m wondering if other people are looking at me thinking, “look at that bitch – just sitting there refusing to give her seat up for her elders”. Is it just my conscience that seems to hate me or does anyone else have the same issue?
People here age remarkably fast. Someone my age can look at least 10 years older than they actually are. So I hardly think it’s fair that I should give my seat up for someone who can’t even take care of their youthful physical appearance. That’s what you get for trying to tan the freaking daylights out of yourself when you were a teen. Now, you gotta live the consequences and if that means no seat given up for you, so be it.
Of course, there are times when I do want to give my seat up but the person is on the other end of the tram, which really leaves me no choice but to stay put. I have experienced times when I would give my seat up when some asshole decides he has more right to sit on it than the poor lil lady standing next to him. These days, I tend to tap the elderly person and offer my seat so that nobody steals it instead.
Anyway, for the times when I am unable to do so because of the above said distance, I would then give ‘you should be SO ASHAMED of yourself’ looks to the men and young people who fastidiously ignore the elderly person trying to cling on to the railings for dear life. The worst are those who sit there and smiles to them pitifully and looks away. At least, although selfish, the former knew that what they were doing was wrong!
I know that this is nothing more than cultural upbringing. No respect is taught at home anymore. Parents just leave their kids to decide what they think is best and to make decisions and grow up as individuals without any discipline or guidance. Ok, I just made that all up, but I bet this exists because all of them seem to take the same trams as me.
Let me tell you about the experience I had in Japan. I decided to take the bus one day because I wanted to see what it was like instead of the train. Japan is notoriously well known for its aging population and sure enough, I did see a lot of older generation while I was there (all up, I saw about 5 children during my almost 2 week stay there). So while on this bus, a couple of elderly people came on board.
Now, what I am about to reveal probably doesn’t happen anywhere else in the world. The most extraordinary thing happened each time they came on board. At least 3-4 people would spring up from their seats for them to sit. These old people actually had a choice on which seats to sit on. It was remarkable to watch. I felt like I was in a parallel universe (the Japanese probably consider this to be true anyway). This is one of the reasons why I would go back to Japan in a heartbeat. I mean, sure, they work you to death there, but at the same time, they have the lowest mortality rate, that is, if they don’t commit suicide first from the workload. Ok, maybe not anytime soon, but definitely when one is ready to retire and live out the remainder of your life. Plus, by then, you can always count on getting a seat on public transportation.
