Social Etiquette No 42 : You must offer your seat to the elderly.

See the image above ? See how happy and grateful the nice smiling elderly person looks ? See how happy and content the girl looks?

You must offer your seat to the elderly.

So this little line have been hammered into my head from when I was like about 14 and started going to school by myself in public transport by my school teachers, parents and above all the black board with bright white letters inside every 24-29 tram.

So, last Friday in an overcrowded V9 bus, I noticed this elderly(atleast I thought she was) woman struggling quite hard to hold on to the unreachable handles and stand. She kept on constantly tripping and falling. True to my ingrained good behaviour I generously(atleast I thought I was being generous) got up from my confortable seat and offered it to her. What followed was rathar unexpected. Instead of accepting the seat she visibly got upset and asked  " Why are you giving ME your seat ? There are lots of people standing around. You did not get up for any of them ." I scratched my head rathar adorably(atleast I think it was) and replied "Because I have always been told to offer me seat to the elderly." At this point she got furious and then using (in what can pollitely be described as) rathar strong words asked me how old I thought she was. I wanted to reply 72 but I realized it is best to  keep shut and take my seat again. She continued with, the attitude problem of today's college going generation and how to them anybody and everybody who is out of college comes under the category of elderly.

I could not bring myself to tell her that I am sadly not a college going student, nowhere even close. Sitting in my comfortable seat, I witnessed the image of the happy, smiling cuddly elderly woman thanking me gratefully and offering me hajmola(atleast that is what I think all women over the age of 55 carry in their bag) shatter into tiny little pieces.

Just to maintain parity(atleast that is what most  Software Engineers or people with OCD do)
NAME : Not known
AGE : How old do you think I am?
LOCATION : V9 bus
ETHNICITY : She was talking in Bangla but with a strong underlying accent. I suspect Gujrati.
ATTIRE : Red and Purple Salwar Suit, MangalSutra, Purple LipStick( atleast these are the things I noticed)