Nowadays, courtesy and consideration—the hallmarks of social refinement—appear to have taken a back seat in our public transport system, our cinema theatres, and other public places, metaphorically speaking. In fact, these values seem to be slowly but surely disappearing from our public lives.
Gone, perhaps for good, are the days when bus commuters readily offered their seats to a woman, a senior citizen, or a disabled person. Today, most people have no time for such niceties; they are invariably preoccupied (if not totally absorbed) with their smartphones, newspapers, thoughts, or taking in the passing scenery, to the exclusion of everything else.
Once, a kind commuter sharing a bus seat with two others squeezed himself in as much as he could to offer me (an elder) a perch. Then, finding that I couldn’t anchor myself securely, he considerately vacated his seat for me, only to see a nimble-footed young man usurp it as if we were playing a game of musical chairs! However, perhaps shamed by his act, the youngster soon gave up his seat.
Time and again, in the frenzied scramble to board a bus or train, I have seen elders and women being rudely elbowed aside. It once happened to me as well, after which I stopped using public transport except when absolutely necessary. After all, ageing ribs are brittle.
Elsewhere, too, the situation is much the same. In a cinema theatre, I sometimes find a boor seated behind me, unnecessarily trying to ‘prop up’ my seat with his feet. Often, his feet will even clumsily thump on it to the beat of the music. And this goes on despite the annoyed glances I throw over my shoulder, risking a crick in my neck. Indeed, short of resting his trotters on top of my seat, he does everything possible to make himself comfortable, forcing me to seek the intervention of the usher.
Sometimes I unavoidably find myself sandwiched tight in a long queue, sweating it out in the sun with everyone’s patience running thin. At such times, I stoically endure being impatiently pushed, prodded, and elbowed along, besides having my corns painfully trod upon by uncaring feet.
Rubbing (or rather grating) shoulders with others and having someone breathe wheezily right down my neck are accepted parts of the game.
When I drive, I usually regret it. Horns blare balefully behind me even when there’s a long queue of vehicles inching along ahead of me! And if a bus or truck passes by, I get a deafening earful from their strident air horns, besides being nearly ‘gassed’ by their toxic emissions. Does anyone observe driving etiquette on our roads?
Showing consideration to others appears to be a forgotten value these days. Or have our hearts become so hardened that such courtesies are now ignored, intentionally and selfishly?