When to give up your seat on the bus

[TDC Nala]

Older than me, no. Elderly, yes. I'm not elderly yet.

People carrying small children, yes. Small children themselves, no. Not if they can stand on their own.

Obviously disabled folks, yes.

Otherwise, the seat's mine.

I can't think of a public transportation system that does not permit standing on buses or subways.

 

[lola4795]

I couldn't believe the amount of healthy, able-bodied men who refused to give up their seat to a woman. My husband would never dream of sitting while a woman is left standing!

We even actually had a bus driver announce, "Ok men. Who is going to be a gentleman on this bus and give up their seat to the ladies?" I almost cheered out loud!

 

[RyMickey]

I couldn't believe the amount of healthy, able-bodied men who refused to give up their seat to a woman. My husband would never dream of sitting while a woman is left standing!

We even actually had a bus driver announce, "Ok men. Who is going to be a gentleman on this bus and give up their seat to the ladies?" I almost cheered out loud!

I've never understood this "rule." Why should I, as a guy, have to give up a seat to a perfectly healthy normal woman. Sure, if they're elderly, pregnant, or have a young kid in tow, I completely understand giving up the seat...but we've all had long days at Disney. If I'm lucky enough to get a seat why shouldn't I keep it?

Like I said above, I HATE riding the bus for this reason. I always feel guilty keeping a seat, but I don't feel like I should HAVE to give it up to an able-bodied individual.

Yeah, I'm an awful guy, I guess. But really I'm a nice guy...I've been told by everyone and work with and all my friends that I'm a good, kind, nice guy. But this "unwritten rule" bugs me.

Like before, this is why I love staying at BWV because it cuts my need for busses down by half and I don't have to be faced with awkward situations like this.

 

[DizzKneeGeek]

RyMickey; you're a brave one...very brave. That's all I'm gonna say.

On to my own experiences:
I prefer to stand on the busses. I have balance issues from time to time from an old serious inner ear infection. Every time we are at WDW; I can not, for the life of me, give up my seat to someone else. I ask, and ask, and ask, and ask. I even had a one armed, peg-legged man holding 14 children turn my seat down. What gives? Seriously. Nobody wants my seat. I would love to give it up to you.

 

[RyMickey]

RyMickey; you're a brave one...very brave. That's all I'm gonna say.

Oh, I know I. Normally I stay out of threads like this...I'm totally not the kind of person that wants to get into these potentially hot topics on the DIS...and I know that my opinion will not be well liked.

But for some reason, I felt like voicing my opinion tonight however unpopular I know it will be.

 

[Robo]

We usually choose to wait for the next bus if the first one is too crowded...

QUESTION:

What if you decide to wait for the NEXT bus so you CAN sit down,
the NEXT bus arrives and your group then boards it and sits down.

Now THIS bus fills up.

Do YOU now need to get up and stand so that others may sit?


(I'll keep asking this until I get some feedback.)

 

[GammaPro]

Last December, I offered my seat to a elderly lady. She declined, then turned to a kid I took to be her grandson and asked if he wanted the seat. He looked to be about 12 or 13 and appeared quite healthy.

He said "Yeah, I'll take it."

"No. You won't." said I.

 

[torinsmom]

QUESTION:

What if you decide to wait for the NEXT bus so you CAN sit down,
the NEXT bus arrives and your group then boards it and sits down.

Now THIS bus fills up.

Do YOU now need to get up and stand so that others may sit?


(I'll keep asking this until I get some feedback.)

This is EXACTLY what I was thinking! This was our situation many times in our last two trips. My DS12 and I would not get on a bus because it was SRO. I'm not elderly and I don't have a toddler, but I am tired after a long day, just like everyone else. We would wait for the next bus and get on and sit and then people with young kids would get on and be standing. I made my son stand once and he ended up sitting on my lap(100 lbs of him) for the long ride back to Pop from MK because he was falling asleep standing up. I'll never do THAT again! If anyone was to ask for my seat, I would tell them I waited for a second bus, so I could sit.

IMO, everyone has the option of waiting for the next bus. Yes, its late and you're tired, but so is everyone else. At WDW, its usually a matter of 5-10 minutes. Or leave the parks earlier. We watched the fireworks while walking out of MK last time, and the wait was so much shorter than when we waited until they were done.

Marsha

 

[ILVPOOH]

I don't give up my seat. If a bus is full, we wait until another bus comes so we can get a seat. I'm not giving up my seat up for someone who piles on after the bus is full and expects to get a seat. Wait for the next one, like I did. We are all tired at the end of the day.

 

[ncbyrne]

I'm a grandma, and never, not even once has anyone offered me a seat on a Disney bus. My poor DH hates the busses - he's a complete gentleman and would never sit while a woman is standing on a bus. He's old and he's tired at the end of a long day, but he'd feel worse if he let a woman stand. He opts to rent a car for this very reason.
Aside.....we were visiting Niagara Falls and rode the people mover busses daily. We were sitting on the bus when a young family - mother, father, two young kids with a stroller in tow, came on board. There were only two seats left. The FATHER and SON sat with the stroller leaning on them, while the mother stood holding the baby!!! My husband gasped, and gave that young man the evil eye!! He got up and gave the woman his seat. This young father looked at him like he was crazy! Over the course of the next two days we ran into this family three more times (not on a bus, but at the attractions). The woman commented to my DH each time, thanking him for being such a gentleman - and told me what a lucky woman I was. I know, it's one of his most endearing qualities. Chivalry isn't dead, rare, for sure, but not dead. Well, maybe on WDW busses....

 

[mom2cinderella]

What I don't understand is why the people on the bus kept piling on.

Maybe it was because we we staying at ASMo, but on our last trip, the bus drivers wouldn't leave until the bus was packed full.

Michele

 

[PatsMom]

I would never expect anyone to give up their seat for me. I'm not elderly yet. Last week I had my 70 year old mother with me - if there were no seats for her, we just waited for the next bus. She doesn't expect anyone to stand for her either. Everyone has the option to wait. We just let people go by us in line if we get to the front and it is SRO.

 

[Robo]

...I'm not elderly yet... Everyone has the option to wait. We just let people go by us in line if we get to the front and it is SRO.

What if you decide to wait for the NEXT bus so you CAN sit down,
the NEXT bus arrives and your group then boards it and sits down.

Now THIS bus fills up.

Do YOU now need to get up and stand so that others' 70 yr old mothers may sit?

 

[buccikulju]

If you've ever been riding a subway while (very) pregnant and not one single person got up to offer you a seat, then anytime you are riding public transportation and you see someone who may be more in need of a "sit-down" than yourself, you get up.

DH doesn't even take a seat unless seats are clearly plentiful.

All the world needs now is love...but courtesy would be appreciated too.

Patty (12 days til POFQ)

 

[#1 Pocahontas]

Maybe it was because we we staying at ASMo, but on our last trip, the bus drivers wouldn't leave until the bus was packed full.

Michele

We had the same experience. The driver would cram the people standing and he/she would even get off at times and tell people to keep moving on. A few times I saw families tell the driver they were going to wait for another bus. If that was the case the driver would just herd the people next in line or even call out, "I have 3 more spots."

It's still your option if you want to wait but this trip it did seem like they wanted to fill those busses to capacity before they left.

Robo- If we waited for the next bus so that we could sit I would not give up my seat, but I wouldn't give it up anyway because I have a 1 year old on my lap and a 4 year old to hang onto. My dh would probably still give up his though. He can easily stand holding the stroller. So I guess the only reason we would wait is so that one of us, whoever is holding the baby, can be able to sit down. Thinking of it in a scenario with no kids.... Dh and I wait for the next bus because we are tired. We get a seat, then it fills up. I see a mother standing holding a baby. Yes, I would offer her my seat. True I waited, however I would feel bad not doing it.


To the guy who thinks he will be flamed for not giving up his seat to any able person just because they are female and older than him. No flames from me. I can totally understand your feeling and point. If you are turning your nose to people who obviously can use it that is one thing, but don't feel you have to give it up just for the sake of it.

 

[goofy4tink]

Well, there was that one bus ride back to BW from MK, late at night....I got on, with my 13 y/o dd. It was SRO..not a problem for me. A nice young man (in his 20's of so) hopped up and told me to take his seat. Now, I wasn't sure if I should take that as if I were elderly or what, but I gave the seat to my dd, who in turn, gave it to a much younger child.
I will give my seat to a youngster, or an 'older' person. I'm 57 so that narrows down the field a lot. Do I hop up for a mother? No, not if she's not holding a child.
My dh will always get up and make the offer. But, at the end of the day, this is a hardship for him. At the ripe old age of 48 he is facing knee surgery (next month) but he doesn't look incapacitated in any way. So, if his knee is really bad, he stays seated. He would be a danger if he were to be standing and the bus stopped quickly!!!
I guess it's a 'game time decision'...you have to make a choice as you sit there. I'm sure that, for most of us, good manners will dictate what we do.

 

[alloyd1170]

My dad holds my dd who is ~20 mos now (if she lets him) and I deal with our huge double stroller. Ds sits in a seat. He is only 5 and one time he was standing because the bus was full, he almost went flying.

We decided on our upcoming trip to drive to MGM vs deal with the bus situation because of the stroller. The other parks we can use the monorail or boats since they have more room.

I refuse to give up my seat or my son's for safety reasons when there are plenty of other people (mainly men) sitting in a seat alone when they could be standing

alison

 

[brendrek]

Deciding to give up your seat is your choice. I can see giving mine up for a pregnant woman, disabled person, or elderly in most cases, but chivalry? No I don't go there. As far as I'm concerned such actions would undermine the equal rights that women fought hard for.

 

[Robo]

Robo- ... Thinking of it in a scenario with no kids.... Dh and I wait for the next bus because we are tired. We get a seat, then it fills up. I see a mother standing holding a baby. Yes, I would offer her my seat. True I waited, however I would feel bad not doing it.

So, Pocahontas' answer to "we'll just wait for the next bus if we don't want to stand" is... we'll wait and THEN we might stand anyway.

Bus-riding etiquette not quite as simple as it looks on the surface.

Now we come to...
If you must STAND and WAIT in the queue for the NEXT bus, why not just STAND and RIDE on the FIRST bus?

 

[RandiB]

I try to give up my seat. If I had a small child and no one was getting up (a teenager or adult) I would stand up and let the person sit next to my kid, as long as I could stand right there.

I saw a lot of parents who would pull a kid into their lap so I could sit with my DD2, because she wouldn't let me stand whiel she was sitting. We had an issue of no one getting up at the end of the night when she was sleeping. I don't know if it was being rude such as everyone was tired and almost asleep. Once someone noticed me standing with her a man stood up.