alexpgp: (OldGuy)
alexpgp ([personal profile] alexpgp) wrote2009-08-10 02:17 pm

Shaken foundations...

Galina reports that her world was shaken the other day when she was on the Metro with her sister... and someone got up to offer Galina their seat.

"It would appear I have now officially joined the ranks of the 'elderly'," said Galina during our daily conversation yesterday.

The official expectation of the Metro system, which is repeated every few minutes on the train's intercom, is for passengers to respect each other and to give up their seats for the handicapped, the aged, and mothers with small children.

And so it goes.

Cheers...

[identity profile] platofish.livejournal.com 2009-08-10 08:48 pm (UTC)(link)

I fear I've experienced something similar....a couple of nights ago a guy in his late teens/early twenties said 'Sir, are you finished' as I was walking away from a machine in the gym.

[identity profile] alexpgp.livejournal.com 2009-08-10 11:25 pm (UTC)(link)
Well, there are various reasons why a young man might call an older man "Sir," and only one involves age!

Cheers...

[identity profile] bandicoot.livejournal.com 2009-08-10 10:21 pm (UTC)(link)
I'll bet she comes home with a more vivid hair color ;p

[identity profile] alexpgp.livejournal.com 2009-08-10 11:26 pm (UTC)(link)
However vivid it might be, it will be lost amid the brightness of her being!

Cheers...

[identity profile] skipperja.livejournal.com 2009-08-10 10:33 pm (UTC)(link)
Have I mentioned that a young man on the Moscow subway got up and offered me his seat? And I was 10 years younger than I am today!

[identity profile] alexpgp.livejournal.com 2009-08-10 11:26 pm (UTC)(link)
I don't recall your mentioning it. How did it make you feel at the time?

Cheers...

[identity profile] skipperja.livejournal.com 2009-08-12 02:27 am (UTC)(link)
I thought "What a nice young man." I haven't ridden in many subways, but I had the impression that most subway riders rarely gave up their seats for anyone. So it was nice to find someone in Moscow who respected older folks.

[identity profile] velvet-granat.livejournal.com 2009-08-11 12:07 am (UTC)(link)
Geez, she was lucky! Although there are still men around who will give up a seat to a standing woman, regardless of her age - my dad is one of those.

[identity profile] alexpgp.livejournal.com 2009-08-11 01:04 am (UTC)(link)
I noticed the tradition, if one can call it that, is not dead in Moscow, though there were a few times I gave up my seat to an older woman while some nearby young punks kept their butts plastered to the seating.

Cheers...

[identity profile] velvet-granat.livejournal.com 2009-08-11 01:08 am (UTC)(link)
What you need there is a true "babulya", to abuse them so well that they will NEVER sit down in Metro again! ;-) I am scared of those women...

[identity profile] alexpgp.livejournal.com 2009-08-11 03:01 am (UTC)(link)
You'n me both, kiddo.

Cheers...

[personal profile] marketeer 2009-08-11 10:46 am (UTC)(link)
The Washington Metro has recently had a PR campaign about courtesy and giving up seats to people who need them more. It seems to be working.