Common Courtesies

I am a modern woman who opens her own doors and often carries her own loads. I ride public transportation to and from work, and I wear sensible shoes because you never know when you'll have to stand up for a long time.

But now I am carrying 30+ extra pounds of human life, and have had to rely a bit more on the graciousness of others.

Too bad not very many people in the Washington, DC metropolitan market are looking to be gracious.

It is not uncommon to hear complaints about people who sit in the "reserved for seniors and the disabled" seats on the Metro, and then refuse to budge when some truly deserving boards the train. In fact, I had heard so many of these type of stories that if, in my unpregnant state, I sat there, I considered myself on "special alert." I'd pay attention to see if a more deserving person boarded the train, and I got up.

A couple of stories to warm your heart (all examples are from the past four or five days):
a) On the metro.... I pushed my belly out and walked to the special seating section. Six men, all under the age of 40, sat in the seats and ignored me. I cleared my throat and said "can I please have someone's seat?" Six men continued to ignore me. I raised my voice and said "Anyone? Anyone?" Two men stopped their conversation, looked up quickly, and sheepishly stood up (giving me two seats). The other four men continued to ignore me.
b) On the bus... well, pretty much the same story.
c) On the metro today... I started walking towards the special section, but an older woman saw me first, and got up to offer her seat. I was about to protest, considering she looked like a frail chemo patient (BD's description), and her seatmate was a much more sturdy man in his 40s. But she was up and out before I could protest, so I gratefully took the seat. The three men nearby did not offer their seats to her.

Life in the big city, I guess.