Warning: This post is a rant in response to this article: “Give up seats to expectant moms: Translink“.
I get it. You like to sit down on the bus. Yo know what? So does the person who has difficulty standing up — more difficulty than you. Even so, when a woman who’s obviously pregnant boards the bus, you look steadfastly at your phone to make it look like you haven’t noticed.
Now you’re sitting and texting while the woman is clearly uncomfortable with standing and having trouble hanging on during the starts and stops, and all you have to do to make their ride a hell of a lot easier is stand up. But you don’t. Why?
Because you lack emphathy. You think only of yourself and your immediate comfort. There’s no rule to make you be nice, so forget her. You sit, she stands.
And wobbles. And frowns at the pain in her feet and knees and back.
You know what this makes you? A douchebag. You’re a douchebag who needs a specific rule to force you to be decent. Unless somebody forces you to stand, you look out for yourself and only yourself. You are the very definition of a scum-sucking douchebag.
I wanted to end this rant saying, “so go to hell, douchebag”, but I won’t. Here’s why. For one thing, it would impolite. For another thing, the 24 Hours article in question was popular because it touched a nerve among transit riders. There are a lot of people on transit who are good people — well, at least good enough to know when to offer their seat. There are lots people who offer their seat to others without a second thought because they have an innate sense of decency and empathy. And, douchebag,… each an every one of them is better than you. So go to hell, douchebag.
Oh, crap, I said it anyway. Couldn’t help it.