# An elderly person, a person on crutches, and a pregnant woman all get onto the train... **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [October 31, 2013, 2:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-elderly-person-a-person-on-crutches-and-a-pregnant-woman-all-get-onto-the-train/672710 "2013-10-31T02:46:11Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![SciFiSam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/47e85d/32.png) [@SciFiSam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SciFiSam)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2013, 11:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-elderly-person-a-person-on-crutches-and-a-pregnant-woman-all-get-onto-the-train/672710/61 "2013-11-07T11:30:36Z")
> [@austerity](#): > > Pregnancy is a choice, so no to her. She could have had an abortion if she felt standing was too hard for her. Getting old is also a choice. ---
**Author:** ![Enright3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/enright3/32/2897_2.png) [@Enright3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enright3)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2013, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-elderly-person-a-person-on-crutches-and-a-pregnant-woman-all-get-onto-the-train/672710/62 "2013-11-07T16:55:02Z")
> [@TashaKitty](#): > > The train is packed but you have a seat. Which of the three do you give your seat to? The closest one. I’m not going to yell across the train to the pregnant woman to take my seat when a person on crutches is right next to me. If you’re saying they’re all equidistant to me, then I’d simply stand up and say “why don’t one of you take my seat, please” and let them decide. Now I’m going to get into trouble for not being polite to the “right” person? Geez Louise people are getting sensitive. ---
**Author:** ![Enright3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/enright3/32/2897_2.png) [@Enright3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enright3)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2013, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-elderly-person-a-person-on-crutches-and-a-pregnant-woman-all-get-onto-the-train/672710/63 "2013-11-07T17:01:40Z")
It was drilled into me by my dad a long time ago that you do things to be polite (or a gentleman) because of who YOU are, NOT because of who THEY are. i.e. “I hold a door open for you because I’m a gentleman, not because you’re a woman.” So as it relates to the OP, I will stand and offer my seat because I want to be polite. \<-- This; as opposed to I’m offering my seat because you’re a pregnant woman, old person, hobbled person. ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2013, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-elderly-person-a-person-on-crutches-and-a-pregnant-woman-all-get-onto-the-train/672710/64 "2013-11-07T17:47:13Z")
> [@Enright3](#): > > It was drilled into me by my dad a long time ago that you do things to be polite (or a gentleman) because of who YOU are, NOT because of who THEY are. i.e. “I hold a door open for you because I’m a gentleman, not because you’re a woman.” > > So as it relates to the OP, I will stand and offer my seat because I want to be polite. \<– This; as opposed to I’m offering my seat because you’re a pregnant woman, old person, hobbled person. Do you offer your seat to everyone – young or old, male or female, healthy or not? ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2013, 11:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-elderly-person-a-person-on-crutches-and-a-pregnant-woman-all-get-onto-the-train/672710/65 "2013-11-07T23:18:17Z")
I’m an old guy, so why would I give it to another old guy. If he’s a lot older than I am, at least he’s used to being an old guy, and has learned not to fall down on a train. And if preggo is so far into her gestation period that it obviously shows, she’s had time to acclimate herself to tiding on a train. So the seat goes to Gimpy, who may have very recently gotten his crutches, and will have the worst time on the train. Unless he’s wearing steel leg braces, which puts him in the same category as the other two . . . and I keep the seat. Or: Give it to the one on crutches. Then the old guy can sit on his lap, and Ms Preggo can sit on his lap. ---
**Author:** ![Major\_Matt\_Mason](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e274bd/32.png) [@Major\_Matt\_Mason](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Major_Matt_Mason)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2013, 11:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-elderly-person-a-person-on-crutches-and-a-pregnant-woman-all-get-onto-the-train/672710/66 "2013-11-07T23:37:52Z")
> [@Dallas\_Jones](#): > > “The Aristocrats!” You win the thread. -MMM- ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2013, 11:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-elderly-person-a-person-on-crutches-and-a-pregnant-woman-all-get-onto-the-train/672710/67 "2013-11-07T23:43:20Z")
The trains and buses I’ve ridden have a section set aside for disabled/elderly people to get priority seating. Assuming that I’m not sitting there (and I usually don’t), I’d expect whoever was sitting there to volunteer their seat first. ---
**Author:** ![Melbourne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5e925/32.png) [@Melbourne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Melbourne)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2013, 1:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-elderly-person-a-person-on-crutches-and-a-pregnant-woman-all-get-onto-the-train/672710/68 "2013-11-08T01:56:33Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > Applying exaggerated stereotypes to benefit your own self-interest. It’s funny that I have _never_ had any reactions like that from anyone in all the years I’ve used public transit. I have. Ok, it was the seventies, but lessons like that are hard to forget. ---
**Author:** ![DagNation](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ee7513/32.png) [@DagNation](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DagNation)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2013, 11:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-elderly-person-a-person-on-crutches-and-a-pregnant-woman-all-get-onto-the-train/672710/69 "2013-11-13T11:09:58Z")
My experience on public transit in the bay area is that when someone who looks like they need one of the seats in the front boards, and all the front seats are all taken, the people sitting look around and the healthiest looking one(s) get up and move back or just stand. So 3 people who need to sit get on, I and 2 others stand up and move. If all the front seats are taken by people who need them, then the next row of people are up for moving. I have rarely seen this be an issue, although sometimes it takes a few seconds to decide who is gonna move. It is nice to be able to get up and move, so it is just the cost of being healthy. That will get paid back when I am old and/or not so healthy. Usually though, the train/bus is only packed for a few stops and then every one can sit down, so it is no big deal. ---
**Author:** ![drewtwo99](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d07c76/32.png) [@drewtwo99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drewtwo99)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2013, 2:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-elderly-person-a-person-on-crutches-and-a-pregnant-woman-all-get-onto-the-train/672710/70 "2013-11-13T14:14:57Z")
I would cut my seat into thirds and offer each person a third of my seat. The two who agree this is a good idea will end up getting nothing from me, while the one who willingly gives up their third so that the seat will not be split up will get the whole seat. For only the person who truly needs the seat the most would rather give up their claim to a part of it than see it split asunder. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2013, 2:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-elderly-person-a-person-on-crutches-and-a-pregnant-woman-all-get-onto-the-train/672710/71 "2013-11-15T02:24:29Z")
> [@drewtwo99](#): > > I would cut my seat into thirds and offer each person a third of my seat. The two who agree this is a good idea will end up getting nothing from me, while the one who willingly gives up their third so that the seat will not be split up will get the whole seat. For only the person who truly needs the seat the most would rather give up their claim to a part of it than see it split asunder. I would destroy the seat and the claimants and let god sort it out. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2013, 8:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-elderly-person-a-person-on-crutches-and-a-pregnant-woman-all-get-onto-the-train/672710/72 "2013-11-17T08:05:18Z")
> [@Hello\_Again](#): > > The practical answer is, whoever is positioned in such a way as to get my seat conveniently Yeah, obviously. It’s not like you ever actually go to the person and tell them to take your seat. You just get up, and maybe make an “ahem” to give people a chance to notice if they are looking away. Or you get up after giving them a chance to make eye contact, but that’s once again not based on me making the decision. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-elderly-person-a-person-on-crutches-and-a-pregnant-woman-all-get-onto-the-train/672710.md?page=3)