When to give up your seat on the bus

[PatsMom]

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?

Because the queue does not move and sway. I am not apt to fall down while standing still but I do lose my balance standing on the bus. I also feel it is a safety issue.

And to answer your last question, if I wait for the next bus, I am under no obligation to give up my seat for anyone. The next 70 year old has the option to wait for another bus - at Disney there is always another bus coming soon.

 

[offtheice]

I don't think I've seen this addressed on these boards before and I want to gauge others opinions on this topic. We were fortunate to ride buses several times when there was plenty of room for everyone to have a seat. But, on the occasions where people were forced to stand, I always made my children give up their seats... and if there were people older than us or someone was holding a sleeping child or otherwise appeared to need to sit, DH and I always gave up our seats for them. None of us were happy to have to give up our seats at the end of a long day - the kids complained every time - but, I wouldn't have it any other way.

I was shocked and dismayed to see very few others following these same courtesies. Very young children taking up seats on a packed bus when they could have, at least, sat on a parents lap. Kids who sat while people stuggled to hold onto a sleeping child on a moving bus.

Do you or your children give up your seats on the bus? When or why? Or why not?

Simple .. My Ds 11 and me stand up and allow someone older or a woman sit down .. I dont expect my Ds5 and my Dd 2 to get up.. Infact my wife and me will at times put the small ones on our laps so there is extra seats.

 

[dumbo33]

Actually i just go on to a bus and find a good spot to stand. It seems like whenever we take those busses they are always full. I did sit one time when the bus was full. As it was filling up, a person (who i didn't know), needed help balancing her stroller and child. I did help with that and was holding it. On our way to the destination one father who was standing with his kids, kept telling them that some people were brought up to offer seats to those that needed them. Brother, I had all I could do to keep from saying something to him.
So I don't get upset when people are sitting that look like they should be giving up their seats, because you never know what the reason is.

 

[offtheice]

i'll give my seat up for anyone who looks in need of a seat! its only the right thing to do... it does bother me when people bring strollers on the bus and put it in a seat.. or put packages on a seat and don't move it for someone else to sit down... thats just rude.

Question for you ? Where do you want them to put the stroller ?? I try putting it in front my my legs ,but when people are standing . You cant . You cant block the door .. I dont take the seat up infact if the person wants to sit down , I move it between us.

 

[bayoutinksmom]

OK so here is a plus to staying at SOG!!! I have never seen a women, child, or elderly person standing while men are sitting. WE always give up our seats to those in need of one. I let my DD 4 sit and my husband and I stand. I get so annoyed when I see teenage boys sitting and elderly or women with small children standing. I often wonder if many have left there manners at home!!!!!

 

[The Sweetness]

IMO, if I am seated on a bus, I am not obligated socially, morally, or otherwise, to give up my seat. I do think it would be rude, however, to take up more room than I *need* on a packed bus. I dont need to put my backpack or packages on the seat beside me, and I can hold my 2y old on my lap. I dont think my DH would feel comfortable being seated if there was another passenger standing with a baby in their arms. He'd rather stand and have them sit. It's a choice. If I were riding the bus w/out my 2y old, I might make the same choice (to give up my seat), Maybe I will find out what I would do this spring

 

[Camping Griswalds]

We try to do what the OP said, have kids sit on our laps, 14 yo and 10 yo will stand, my DH will stand. It's a free country and no "rules" per se about giving up a seat. I just think our country in general has gotten more rude, or maybe more focused on the "myself" theory. I think a lot of people honestly don't notice others. "Own little world" syndrome.

That being said, we have had people lots of times for our family. Lots of times my older kids refuse. I will always accept if holding the (18 months last trip) youngest. Nicest thing that happened....I had taken 18 month old to nap, and was returning to meet DH and boys in AK. Here I am with 18 month old, folded stroller , baby bag, fanny pack etc, and so many people jumped up to help. It was just so nice. Some were cast members, some older men, some wives pushing their husbands to help. It just made me so thankful!!! I could have done it all myself, heck I go to the zoo that way alot, but it was truly so kind and generous of others! It made my whole day, it's nice to have someone just reach out once in a while...so pass it on is my theory. it only takes a few minutes of being helpful or uncomfortable

 

[Robo]

...if I wait for the next bus, I am under no obligation to give up my seat for anyone. The next 70 year old has the option to wait for another bus - at Disney there is always another bus coming soon.

Ahhhh, YOU know you waited for the 'next bus' and consider no obligation to the next "70 year old" who boards it later.

But NOW everyone ELSE on your bus DOESN'T know your "special situation.'
Most of them (like many of the other posters on this thread have opined)
will think you are 'heartless, boorish and cruel' for just keeping your (waited-for) seat.

As I say, this is not as easy to judge as it first appears.

 

[addicted_to_WDW]

My DS (12) prefers to stand and looks for any reason to give up his seat. DH usually gives up his seat as well. I will for an elderly person or someone holding a baby.

What bugs me is when you have two parents and 2 toddlers and they take up 4 seats while a bunch of people stand. It really isn't that difficult to hold your kid for 15 minutes, and if you are that concerned about, "safety," rent a car and strap the darlings in car seats.

 

[TravelMom]

If we have been lucky enough to score seats, my kids a I relish the chance to give them up to someone more tired/with small kids/less fit/older/pregnant. It's a chance to give a little 'gift' that costs you nothing.

I used to give my kids a cash incentive to do nice things like hold doors or give up a seat or shake an adult's hand ($1, after the fact, had to be unprompted by me and witnessed by me); they loved the couple bucks they'd get after a big social event and I loved that they were learning social niceties (that I really didn't have taught to me as a child, had so scramble into a little social decorum as a young adult). Now as teenagers they do these things unprompted.

Once I gave my daughter's seat to a mother with a sleeping toddler and a stroller (she was alone, as I was) by pulling my DD onto my lap, and the mother was so happy she cried.

 

[bytheblood]

If I am super tired, I will wait for another bus.

However, if I am already in a seat and somebody comes on such as an elderly person, mother or father holding a sleeping child or pregnant woman, I will give up my seat in a heartbeat.

I may get flamed for this, but I think everybody has choices.For example, the choice to leave at the very last minute or leave half an hour early.Obviously the buses are going to be full after park closing,so if you make the choice to stay until then,you know what to expect!

I think this is a very fair statement!

 

[NotAmused]

IMO, if I am seated on a bus, I am not obligated socially, morally, or otherwise, to give up my seat. I do think it would be rude, however, to take up more room than I *need* on a packed bus.

Completely agreed. If I have waited for a bus and I am just as tired from the long day as everyone else, I have a right to sit in the seat. I also have the right to get up if I feel someone else needs it more than I do. And if I choose to sit in the seat that I waited for and people want to give me dirty looks and think I'm rude, well than that's their problem. I will never see them again, anyway



And like someone else pointed out, you never know the reason why someone does not give up their seat so it is not fair to automatically assume they have no manners. They may have a health or physical problem.

 

[mousebit]

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?

Okay, Robo, I'll bite. It seems to me like everyone misses the main point in all these bus debates. That point being the obvious to me - "Safety first." Geez, folks just a little common sense. If you see someone whose safety may be compromised because it's difficult for them to balance on a somewhat twisty, bumpy bus ride, for goodness sake do the decent thing and offer up your seat if - and only if - your own safety is not compromised. This means that if you have two good strong legs and are not carrying a young child or have some similar situation you probably should get up. Your comfort should not supercede someone else's safety. When mommy falls and baby is hurt are you really gonna sit there all comfy in your seat and say "Oh, well...not my fault?"

So to answer the question above. No, waiting for the next bus does not solve the problem for most folks. What it does is just allow you another opportunity to do the SAFE and courteous thing. It does solve the problem for me. I'm a grammy walking with a cane and usually traveling with my granddaughter who is now 10 and can pretty much hold her own on a bus ride. But when she was younger I wanted her safe and sound in a seat. Waiting for the next bus allowed us to board in time to get seats. Then if the bus filled up, we'd offer her seat to someone doing the balancing act and DGD would plop up on my lap. Not exactly comfortable, but geez if I could make it thru a whole day at the parks, then make it to the bus stop, surely I could endure a few minutes of minor discomfort without letting it ruin my day.

 

[DaisyD]

And THIS is where the problem gets complex.

What if you decided to wait for the next bus so you could sit down,
the next bus arrives and your group then boards it and sits down.

Now THAT bus fills up.

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

Nope. We always waited for another bus so that we can get seats. I advise anyone that NEEDS a seat for any reason to do the same. I would never expect anyone to give up a seat for me when I could easily wait for another bus.

 

[hello kitty]

These must be some kind of magical buses. They can render a perfectly able bodied woman's legs useless!?! I was considering using the buses on our next trip... now I'm not so sure. Pretty scary stuff if you ask me.

 

[DaisyD]

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?

It isn't the standing for us but the balance issues. I'd rather stand still and wait for a seat then try to balance in a moving vehicle.

 

[DaisyD]

Ahhhh, YOU know you waited for the 'next bus' and consider no obligation to the next "70 year old" who boards it later.

But NOW everyone ELSE on your bus DOESN'T know your "special situation.'
Most of them (like many of the other posters on this thread have opined)
will think you are 'heartless, boorish and cruel' for just keeping your (waited-for) seat.

As I say, this is not as easy to judge as it first appears.

But who cares what others think? I know I waited for another bus for a seat and I'm happy to get one.

 

[DaisyD]

Okay, Robo, I'll bite. It seems to me like everyone misses the main point in all these bus debates. That point being the obvious to me - "Safety first." Geez, folks just a little common sense. If you see someone whose safety may be compromised because it's difficult for them to balance on a somewhat twisty, bumpy bus ride, for goodness sake do the decent thing and offer up your seat if - and only if - your own safety is not compromised. This means that if you have two good strong legs and are not carrying a young child or have some similar situation you probably should get up. Your comfort should not supercede someone else's safety. When mommy falls and baby is hurt are you really gonna sit there all comfy in your seat and say "Oh, well...not my fault?"

So to answer the question above. No, waiting for the next bus does not solve the problem for most folks. What it does is just allow you another opportunity to do the SAFE and courteous thing. It does solve the problem for me. I'm a grammy walking with a cane and usually traveling with my granddaughter who is now 10 and can pretty much hold her own on a bus ride. But when she was younger I wanted her safe and sound in a seat. Waiting for the next bus allowed us to board in time to get seats. Then if the bus filled up, we'd offer her seat to someone doing the balancing act and DGD would plop up on my lap. Not exactly comfortable, but geez if I could make it thru a whole day at the parks, then make it to the bus stop, surely I could endure a few minutes of minor discomfort without letting it ruin my day.

Those same people that CHOSE to stand on the bus are the ones compromising their own safety. Their choice, not mine. We do the smart thing and wait for another bus because we know it isn't safe to stand. Those folks have the same option to do the right thing.

 

[Robo]

But who cares what others think?

Obviously, the large number of posters on these threads care very deeply about it.

 

[DaisyD]

Obviously, the large number of posters on these threads care very deeply about it.

They are the ones that usually expect a seat instead of waiting for another bus. LOL!