Moral Seating Dilemma

[roddy]

Having this morning witnessed a spirited but thankfully not violent discussion (at least not as I got off at Dongzhimen) between the mother of a small girl and the also-elderly friend of an old lady, I wish to poll the forums on the issue of seating priority with particular reference to the 老, the 幼, and I'm going to thrown in a 孕 for good measure. Feel free to also include the 病 and the 残 if you wish.

So, if you had a seat on the subway, and in front of you there are standing an eight-year old child, an old man, and a heavily pregnant lady, who (if any) would you give the seat to? We'll assume for the sake of argument that the seat will be taken, without protest, by whoever you offer it to, and there won't be any excuses given (y'know, 'I'm just getting off at the next stop', 'I won't be able to get back up again', all that . . ) and also we'll assume that as you stand up nobody will slip in under you and steal the seat.

[imron]

Pregnant lady. If someone stood up before me to offer her a seat, then I would offer my seat to the old man. I wouldn't give my seat to an eight-year old child unless the child was clearly exhausted.

The only 残 I see on public transport in China are those begging for money and they don't want seats.

[bhchao]

So, if you had a seat on the subway, and in front of you there are standing an eight-year old child, an old man, and a heavily pregnant lady, who (if any) would you give the seat to?

I would give my seat to the old man.

[Artem]

Definitely the pregnant lady. I mean that's not even comparable to the old and the young.

But as far as old man or a 8-year-old child? Definitely the old man. Unless it was clearly visible that the old man was feeling perfectly fine that day, and the child seemed to tip over from exhaustion.

[gato]

Eight-year-olds are usually a bundle of nerves. I would keep the seat myself rather than give to an eight-year-old.

[Don_Horhe]

I'd just get up and watch them fight for it.

Now seriously, I'd give it to the pregnant woman. Next on my list is the old man, as for the kid, I never give my seat to kids (unless of course it's hurt or something).

[studentyoung]

So, if you had a seat on the subway, and in front of you there are standing an eight-year old child, an old man, and a heavily pregnant lady, who (if any) would you give the seat to?

I would give my seat to that heavily pregnant lady, no doubt, especially when it’s very crowed. That’s because it’s a rather dangerous physiological period to a woman.

Cheers!

[Shadowdh]

Pregnant lady hands down... the old guy would be second and the 8 year old can stand as its character building...

Too many times have I seen a pregnant lady standing when there are young guys sitting on their fat behinds... I often had to shame young guys into offering their seat to my wife when she was pregnant...

[anonymoose]

Between the pregnant lady and the old man, well, it depends on how old the man is. My concern would not be so much whether standing up is tiring or not, but rather whether he can stand stably, or is in danger of falling over. I have seen old people, and have also had elderly relatives, who have lost balance due to lurching of the vehicle, so my primary concern would be for his safety rather than his comfort.

As for the 8-year old kid, you must be joking, right? Why on earth should anyone give their seat up for the kid? I think you've been in China too long. Your kid will definitely become a 小皇帝. I remember going on the metro somewhere in Australia (can't remember exactly which city - Perth maybe) where kids have to give up their seats for adults. That's how it should be!

[HashiriKata]

As for the 8-year old kid, you must be joking, right? Why on earth should anyone give their seat up for the kid?

If without any other stronger candidates, I'd (not necessarily give up the seat but) move over to make room for the kid. I'm more likely to do this if it's for a little girl.

As for an old person vs a pregnant person, it depends on the degree of them being old / pregnant. This however reminds me of the fact that in some countries, people close their eyes on the tube until they've arrived at the their stop. How then can they see who'd need their seat?

[renzhe]

I'd say old man, then pregnant woman, and the kid can stand.

Of course, it depends on the old man and the pregnant woman. I had an old hunched over gentleman with a walking stick in mind when answering.

If it's a 60-year old rock-climber in perfect shape, then the pregnant woman would get the seat. If it's crowded and people are bumping into the woman ,then she gets the seat.

A 3 year old kid would get some consideration, but an 8-year old, no way.

[Xiwang]

The old man gets priority, especially if his falling could result in serious injury or eventual death. If he's healthy, in a perfect world, he would decline the seat in favor of the pregnant lady.

Despite what some of the signs may say, no way would I give up a seat to a kid.

[roddy]

I forgot to say what my answer was. I chose old man. But I think I was being overly influenced by the old lady I saw who didn't get a seat because of the kid (who was innocent, by the way, it was her mum that was insisting she sit down). I reckon I would actually go for the pregnant woman in real life. Or perhaps suffer decision paralysis and just stay seated myself.

[Outofin]

The most inconvient thing among the three is preganancy. Age is equally inconvient but you really get used to it. While growing 20lb weight under your belt in 40 weeks feels so hard. (maybe only because I know pregnant women more than old people.)

[Lu]

I chose the pregnant woman. But well, it does depend on who looks like they need it more.

I've seen many people give up their seats for kids in the Taipei MRT, but that's something I'd never do. Kids have no need for that kind of special treatment. If they're too small to stand they can sit on their parent's lap.

[Scoobyqueen]

Why cant you not just offer up a witty comment to the old man saying you are not old enough yet, judging by your young looks (wink) so I am offering the seat to her which means two people get to sit down in one go (pregnant lady with baby) or does a compliment like that not go down well in China?

Most old people want to appear young(otherwise they wouldnt all die their hair with that pitch black stuff, eat ginseng, and cover any sign of baldness with hair fetched from somewhere else on the head ) so it might even be a polite gesture not to offer it to him.

[msittig]

8-year olds are kids, but not 幼. Maybe two- or three-year-olds, but in my experience kids that age can't stay in their seat, alternating between seat, mommy's lap, and dancing/swinging around the pole. The most seat-needy 幼 are parents without strollers carrying babies, or carrying sleeping toddlers. Then the 老 vs 幼 decision gets to be a toss-up.

But the poll, IMHO, has a clear winner: 孕.

[Meng Lelan]

Remember we have to consider both mother and baby safety and health, the pregnant need to be seated in case the bus does crazy things as buses do in China. Most old people are escorted by a relative, friend, or neighbor to provide help, and even if not, I have seen bus conductors and ticket sellers yell insanely at the driver when the driver does some driving stunt while the 老人 tries to get on or off or something like that.

One time someone tried to give his seat to an elderly man in Beijing. I think the elderly man was embarassed to be perceived as elderly enough to be considered an elderly man and kept protesting he was going to get off at the next stop anyway so no point in sitting down.

[muyongshi]

I answered pregnant lady but if it was like a mother with a young child (read 3 maybe 4 or younger) than the come up in the running.

Honestly (and I've actually done this before) my honest response would be to tell the young kids or middle aged healthy people to give up their seat for the others. This is slightly embarrassing (ok so majorly embarrassing for a person to be told by a foreigner to 让座 but oh well) but it works. No one would argue with you- too much shame, but if there was multiple people who needed seats (obviously have to use your own judgement) I would help them find it.

Note: use this method with caution

[gougou]

No one would argue with you

You obviously haven't met 愤青 before... On douban there's a whole group of people proud of not giving up their seats.