Why don't people give up their seats to the needy?

I commute regularly to London at peak times and never ever have to stand - sometimes people are practically fighting each other to give me their seat. Same for helping me on and off the train - as it’s rush hour the other passengers tend to be younger than me on the whole and I find I get help from across the age range, male and female and ethnicities. I don’t use buses or the tube so can’t speak for those

Most travellers do not seem to be British

Really? Telly
How on earth do you come to that conclusion?
Unless we are talking US tourists or foreign exchange students. I fear that is a potentially racist conclusion to draw.
.

I don't think youngsters are caring about baby boomers pensions or grand houses etc etc. They just haven't been taught to give up their seats. They are full of goodness but all directed only to popular causes they have been taught to care about and giving up seats for the elderly wouldn't have been one of them in particular.

I must say that when I travel on the London Underground I always seem to be offered a seat, which I take most gratefully.

On the buses it is a different matter, when I was a child mothers always put their young children on their laps. They never let an adult stand. Now every child, even the smallest has to occupy a whole seat, sometimes with the mother standing. Do little bottoms have to have a seat to themselves?

A lot of folk are scared to offer a seat on the underground due to being told 'no thank you' in a rude way. I always say yes and thank you.
Mind you 15 years on same tube route makes one expert at standing at correct spot on platform to get first dibs at a seat.

I don’t like making sweeping statements however I have noticed that many young women sit with their handbags on the seat beside them and are very reluctant to move said bags ! If a bus is busy , I insist that they do and ignore the glares !

50 odd years ago I gave up my seat and was then put off the bus as there were more than 5 standing!

Most times I get offered a seat by younger people, generally female. The men just ignore me. I get angry if a man rushes to get to a spare seat, allowing me to stand instead of him. I'm 72 with a painful knee so standing is not the best thing for it, but am I old fashioned in thinking that the lady should be offered the seat?

I have never expected anyone to give up their seat for me, but was shocked by the story of the blind man. Last week, in outer London, the youngish man in front of me (and sleeping granddaughter in buggy) in the bus queue, once the near-empty bus arrived, chose to sit in the seat next to the wheelchair space. An elderly woman was sat at the other end of the space. Hence there was not enough space for the buggy. Angry? Furious. I was physically incapable of lifting the sleeping toddler, while simultaneously folding the buggy.
Thoughtlessness.

What I find most disappointing are the parents with very young children ( 3, 4 5yrs old or so) who don't teach their children to stand up and offer a seat to an adult, elderly or otherwise. These children could easily sit on a parents knee and are travelling for free anyway. No wonder they grow up to have no respect for others, parents to blame again.

My DD frequently stands both ways to and from work and she is VERY obviously pregnant (35 weeks ) . Everyone just seems to be in their own bubble these days.

I think some of never giving up seats is down to the fact that on buses pensioners don't pay an the younger people have to pay high bus fares so they feel I have paid for my seat so I am using it . I have also seen some very nasty pensioners not moving for mums with prams and even not moving for wheelchair users when they physically can . I have stood up for people and have stood when I haven't been well unfortunately it's how the world is now .

Very high fares(and low wages to boot) here in the NE so can (kind of) see your point hulahoop but surely it’s just common courtesy to stand for someone (anyone) less capable of doing so.

My husband, as a young man would have been horrified to accept a seat offered by an older person or a woman, he is blind a Dad, and a guide dog user. His response would been “I can stand thank you and my dog always lays on the floor is there an older person who needs a seat?” Now he is 75 he still insists that I take the seat. And by the way I love Londoners I never have to stand on the tube!

I’m 55 and all my life I offered my seat up to anyone I saw or thought was less able to stand than myself (I suffer with neuropathy in my feet) I see so much ignorance and rudeness from all ages. I saw a lady go flying when a bus driver slammed his brakes on suddenly. I rushed to help her up because she looked hurt and struggling and she told me to F off! I understood her embarrassment but people are just nasty. I find it very sad.

Occasional poster, longtime lurker here. Just wanted to say that I always offer my seat to someone who needs it - I'm in my early 50's. I visit London several times a year, (I grew up there), and it's the only place I use public transport. I was brought up to offer/give up my seat. I remember having to sit on DMs lap or stand beside her, in order to let someone have my seat. I remember hoping that someone would give me their seat when my little legs were tired.

When I was in my early my 20's, I offered my seat to a woman who I thought was pregnant. She wasn't and I felt dreadful, but she reassured me that it happened to her a lot, nevertheless . It hasn't stopped me from offering my seat, but I do secretly hope I'm not going to offend someone when I do.

I'm afraid I couldn't read the article. I read the headline and it sounded heartbreaking. What I've heard from people with disabilities who travel on public transport, is that it can be a nightmare and is constantly challenging. I wish that would change.

I have a bad back at the moment, for a few months, actually so am grateful for a seat.

Re baby boomers, noticed that instead of having Saturday night out, young people have a Friday night out also. How do I know, next doors 17 year old grandson wakes me up bringing girlfriend home in a taxi at 1.30 in the morning the taxi pulls up on my drive. So two nights out each weekend no wonder they cannot save up. Plus a TAXI.

While we were on hols in Malta using the famous buses to get around, we were almost always offered a seat. We accepted gratefully, as our strap hanging days are over.

Not so in this country however, where it seems that it's more important for a child to sit rather than an older person. Where has that come from?

It all starts at home .Those who sit tight, with no thought to the elderly, clearly pregnant or disabled , are as late DH would say not brought up 'dragged' up.

Just pop over to Mumsnet to see the attitude that children under 5 need a seat more than adults despite the fact that they don't pay! My children and grandchildren always sat on my knee or stood in front of my legs if a seat was needed by an adult. I was in Prague recently and was offered a seat many times. I guess I must look old now!

Maybe if older people actually bothered to THANK the younger generation when they do give up their seat, they’d do it more often?

(I generally find the younger people to be polite and it’s the old codgers that seem to think that by virtue of being old they deserve respect and don’t realise it works both ways!)

I have had to ask for a seat a few times and I think the important thing is to ask the person in a warm friendly apologetic manner, and offer an explanation eg I have a back problem and its very painful to stand. I always say ' thankyou, thats very kind of you.' Approaching people in a pleasant manner and offering an explanation seems the best way to get a result. People respond to friendliness and smiles, but not to being told what to do by someone who feels entitled. I always bear in mind that the seated young worker may have been on their feet all day, and that seat might be desperately needed relief for their aching legs.

I have been lucky enough to be offered a seat on the underground if I am in London but usually by a younger woman or somebody on holiday who has the idea that this is what the British do! I would have a problem strap hanging now although it isn't obvious so just very grateful. I think men are sometimes reluctant to offer in fear of being rebutted which is a shame.

I am a frequent visitor to NY and on every occasion that I use the subway, if there isn’t a free seat, someone offers me theirs. It is simply good manners and maybe those lessons are learned in childhood?

I was surprised and pleased to be offered a seat every time I used the subway in New York. The ‘rudeness’ of New Yorkers was absent when I visited.

I don’t wAnt to go off at too much of a tangent but, the big issue for me is poor manners, lack of pleasant politeness. It’s striking just how much foul language is used in public spaces. It goes hand in hand with throwing rubbish, no please or thank you, holding doors for the person following behind, helping people who need a hand and so on.
Most people do these things but the British do seem to have a monopoly on ill manners