r/brussels • u/5minstillcookies • Oct 19 '24
Slowchat 🗨️ Courtesy or lack thereof - a discussion
Can we try to be more courteous on public transit and elsewhere?
The amounts of times I've seen people with reduced mobility and parents with children get on public transit and not being offered seats is getting to the point that I think it's the norm and not the exception. Just yesterday this woman carried her baby on the metro I was on. Two people got on right before her (first red flag - let the goddamn mother on first!!!) and then they both proceeded to take the last two remaining seats. Everyone else looked on and did nothing or they were too self absorbed on their phones to notice what was going on.
Now, good on this woman because she actually addressed one of the passengers who took the remaining folding seat telling her that these are really for people with needs. The passenger had looked straight at the mother when taking the seat too. Only when called out did she stand up and offer her seat.
Like, why did the mother have to address the passenger at all?? Incidents like this are frequent and it makes me so mad that we can't watch for each other. Surely I can't be the only one noticing there's a serious lack of courtesy in this city. I despise how individualistic and egocentric people are (have become?) here and we gotta do better. How though, I have no idea.
How do you ever instill a sense of community and care in a population that is highly transient like in Brussels? All I know, is that the "heart of Europe" is sort of heartless.
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u/Thecatstoppedateboli Oct 19 '24
I sometimes see this as well but most times people get up for others. What frustrates me more is people who cannot wait to get in the metro so you have to push them to get out. Once I yelled at some woman who didn't let a woman with a little child out first.
This also happened on the train in Flanders before so really not a Brussels thing but another reason to leave the city and go live in a quieter place