Wednesday, November 28, 2007
Train Moral TerroristsGiving up seats is more than a moral dilemma. It's an act of subjective judgement. For me, there seems to be a hierarchy of giving up seats: pregnant women, old ladies, parent with infant-in-arms, guy with one leg. I'd almost never give up my seat for a parent with one child (about 1-2 yrs old). Cos you know that they'll ALWAYS ask their child to sit, and the proceed to try to bend over awkwardly and attend to him. I mean come on, if you had any brains you'd sit and make your child sit ON you, right? I never had such luxuries when I was a kid. The bloody kid can learn to behave and stand still.
So the other day i was confronted with an even more complex dilemma. I was seated in the corner, and this couple with not one but TWO 1-2- year olds came in. The "good christian girl" next to me immediately got up (I say "good christian girl" cos she was reading her bible and writing her reflections in a notebook. She was so focused on it that she even wrote while standing up, balancing the book upside down on her thigh while holding onto the bar with the other hand and trying not to bump into people in the crowded train. You have to admire anyone with such a conviction).
But i digress. So what happens? the lady plomps her child on the seat, OF COURSE. Then they proceed to crowd around me and I began to feel an acute sense of social pressure to give up my seat as well. But being the stubborn ass that I am i was just adamantly defending my right to choose who to give up my seat to. I even made a conscious effort to look up at them so that I wouldn't be branded one of those people who "fall asleep" when there might be a chance that you have to give up your seat. Eventually they got off 5 stops later.
So is being a consciencious, courteous person of good moral character (christian or otherwise) mean you have to give up your seat to everyone? Darling
Andrea thinks I should just give up my seat when faced with uncertainty. But if i live by that mantra, there's ALWAYS someone you have to give up your seat for! If there's no subjectivity in
choosing, then there's
no meaningful act of giving up. Why not just stand magnanimously proclaim that you've just given up your seat to the ENTIRE train? Why put yourself in a situation where you might have to give it up anyway? And what's with those stickers above your head that says "give up your seat to
those who need it more"? Is that added institutionalized social pressure and stigma for non-compliance???
BAH. Maybe even terrorists need to sit.
Train Moral Terrorists
