It should come as no surprise that in today’s culture chivalry has flown the way of the Dodo bird. In the past men would live by a stricter code of honor centered on protecting the female gender and their offspring and putting their needs before their own. A simple example of this is the common known saying used whether at times of kindness or during times of crisis, “Women and Children First!” This saying means that the physically stronger member of our human species, men, uses their strength to care for those weaker than themselves namely women and children. In essence, men are supposed to sacrifice their own needs and wants to make life a little bit easier every day for the other members of our species whether they are known to them or complete strangers.
As a daily commuter on the Metra train system in the Chicagoland area you would assume that this simple code of honor would still be enforced by the hundreds of gentleman that ride these heavily packed trains. However, this just seems to be another Unintelligent Argument as I witness some of the most obscene acts of disregard by men towards fellow commuters who are women, children, or even worse, handicapped. When the trains pull into the suburban stations to pick up hundreds of passengers at a time there is always a mad rush by these men to push, shove, and bump their way through the masses to board the train cars and race to their favorite seats. These men not only rudely ignore the ladies beside them, whether they are young or old, and very rarely do you hear them say with an outstretched hand of kindness, “No, you go ahead, ladies first.”
Once upon the train these men race to their favorite seat. These seats could be either in the handicap rows, the typical two-seaters facing front, or the bench rows that face the middle of the train. Immediately upon arrival at their destination they place their bags down or feet next to them taking up the seat next to them as if they want to relive those famous scenes from Forrest Gump where like children they are telling the rest of the commuters attempting to find a place to rest, “Seats Taken”. Now, these fellows not only are resistant towards commuters who point out there is room for another passenger and request to use the available space, they are quite rude and ornery about the whole process, even if it’s a lady.
Now, the worst of the worst are the men who race to the upper deck row of the train and sit in the bench rows. Much like stadium seating these seats fold up when not in use. I cannot tell you the numbers of times I have seen a gentleman find two of these seats and push them down and sit in the middle. It’s as if they believe that no one notices or sees their immorality of taking up two seats at once. I usually shake my head and tell myself, they must have one of the largest butts in the world. I mean, I know obesity is becoming a problem more and more in America, but I cannot believe how many men in the Chicagoland Area have such a ‘Fat Ass’. It’s even more hilarious to notice and watch their entire charade. They take up two seats, and pull out their mobile device, laptop, newspaper, or book and act as if they have accomplished a great deed. Their body movements and facial features show a sad sense of pride at possibly taking a seat away from a fellow commuter, and act disgusted when someone requests them to slide over and make room.
Maybe I was raised old school by my parents, but I don’t believe in the “Only the strong survive”, or “Survival of the fittest” mantras. Even in situations like these where you are sitting in a train seat and look up to see a woman standing in front of you uncomfortably the thought, “too bad, I was here first” doesn’t even come to mind. Many times I’ve stood up and offered my chair to the nearest woman so she can be off her feet for 20-30 minutes and enjoy her novel and peruse her social media. The times I have not I have pained myself with guilt and tell myself I should’ve. I hope that when other men see me stand up and offer my seat to a woman that they will follow suit. Sometimes they have done so but most times a look crosses their face that reads, “Can’t believe that guy gave up his seat,” and they do not. I enjoy the warm smile and big thank you most of these women and children offer when I give up my seat, and also the nod of respect given to me by others who notice the act of generosity. Perhaps if more of us acknowledged and followed the example set by others, we can step back in time a little bit to where in life men cherished their honor and used it for even the simplest of all things, letting someone sit down. After all, having the biggest butt in the world doesn’t mean you have the smallest heart, does it?
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Unintelligent Arguments 