Woman Blamed For Not Giving Her Seat To Elderly

2016/05/08

Zhang Qianran

One of society's unwritten conventions is offering seat to the elderly, disabled and pregnant in public transport.

Recently a female college student came to limelight for challenging this widely accepted norm.

On May 3, an 80-year-old woman and her daughter took a train from Dazhou to Chengdu in Sichuan Province, to have a medical check at Huaxi Hospital, reported West China Metropolis Daily.

There are four stops along the route -- Dazhou, Yingshan, Nanchong, and Chengdu.

Due to the May Day holiday travel rush, they only managed to got the train ticket from Dazhou to Yingshan, during which they could have a seat.

After they boarded the train, they bought the tickets for the next two stops. But these tickets only allowed them to stand, meaning their original seat would be taken by someone else.

When the train arrived at Nanchong, a female college student to whom the seat belonged boarded the train and asked if the elderly woman could give the seat to her.

Concerned about her mother's health condition, the elderly woman's daughter asked if the college student could share the seat with her mother.

She refused.

Five minutes later, a man in the front row gave his seat to the elderly woman.

Her daughter thanked him and at the same time reproved the college student for not giving the seat:

You young people should learn from something from others (the man).

The student felt she was being wronged and began to cry. "Isn't it wrong to sit on my own seat?" she replied.

Later, the daughter of the elderly woman told the newspaper that it was understandable that the college student didn't want to give the seat, but she should have been more caring for the elderly.

The incident triggered a dispute online.

According to a poll launched by the newspaper, about 54 percent among 20,000 netizens backed the college student, for it was up to her to decide whether to give the seat or not. The daughter of the elderly woman was obliged to care for her mother. She should have taken into account her mother's situation before planning the trip.

About 42 percent of netizens thought the request of the daughter of the elderly woman was nothing more than assuming a moral high ground.

Only 2.1 percent netizens blamed the college student for apathy. “We should care for the elderly for one day we will also grow old and weak.”

It proved to be a dilemma when it comes to morality and righteousness.

What do you think?

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Woman Blamed For Not Giving Her Seat To Elderly

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