Dear Mrs. McVeigh,
I was recently on a bus and saw a blind gentleman get on. I immediately got up and offered him my seat. His companion thanked me but said he could not sit there because he had a seeing-eye dog and could not fit where I was sitting. Another passenger who had room for the dog then jumped off and offered him his seat. To my surprise after the gentleman who was blind said thank you, he then added that getting offered a seat never happens to him. Can you please address this issue with your readers? What is going on with our society that we have gotten to this point? Thank you.
Sincerely,
MBM
Dear MBM,
I am very surprised as well. Something that I hope we all teach our children is to offer seats to people who need it more than we do. This can include the elderly, pregnant ladies, people with babies, and anyone who has a disability. Those of us who are old fashioned would also hope a gentleman would offer a lady his seat. Part of the issue could be that we are all looking down at our electronic devices and not looking up when passengers come and go. Being aware of our surroundings is an important lesson to teach young people. Recently a video camera on a subway captured a man being killed because everyone was looking down at his phone and no one saw the attacker approach. If we are not paying attention in public places, then we are missing out on opportunities to help others in so many ways.