At the crossroads

I have found it increasingly difficult to be able to apply some of the things that my parents taught such as respect to the elderly in the society. On Wednesday, I was heading to town to buy a few things after a busy day in class; the tram was full due to the increase in number of students at the university travelling to and from town. However, I was lucky to get a seat and at some point an elderly lady walked in and so I offered my seat to her. But instead of letting the old lady sit another student interjected and sat instead. What made me more embarrassed is that some of the students were actually laughing at that incident, for me it wasn’t funny at all.

It is not the first time that I have observed that, but there are instances where parents would let their kids occupy seats instead of offering them to an elderly. I remember in my school days it was unheard of for a child to be seated while an elderly person is standing, I guess our different ways of upbringing and culture may play a major role in how we respond to such situation in any society. However, I feel that there are some universal acts of respect that are applicable in any society such as respect to the elderly.

There are certain things that I would like to do as a sign of respect, but I am held back not knowing how the other party may react to that. Take for instance finding an older lady or man carrying a heavy shopping basket, my instincts would tell me to ask the lady if she needs any help with the bag. However, I have learnt that my gesture of kindness may be taken the wrong way and I may be perceived to be a burglar trying to get away with the bag. So instead I will walk away without assisting just because of that fear of being mistaken. Anyway, I have come to accept the reality that the moral integrity within our society has decayed that what was perceived, as an act of respect may no longer be true now. Even back home this acts no longer hold, the current generation has been exposed to so much electronic contents that they learn everything from them and not from the parents. It therefore becomes a person choice to do what you as a person feel is right and not what the society thinks. So the next time I see an elderly person standing I may think twice before offering my seat.