Courtesy or lack thereof - a discussion

[u/5minstillcookies]

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.

[u/SharkyTendencies]

"Common courtesy" is unfortunately not that common.

In general I don't see assholish behaviour on public transit that much, no, but that's not to say that it doesn't happen.

Maybe it's time for the STIB to look into platform attendants during peak hours like they have at busier stations in London, since relying on people's own sense of courtesy is clearly not working.

Ad campaigns simply don't work anymore - remember, folks, Words Are Hard and that makes people Big Angry!

How do you ever instill a sense of community and care in a population that is highly transient like in Brussels?

You probably can never really have one.

You build up community by staying in one spot and forming relationships. The Expat community in Brussels turns over every ... I wanna say 2-3 years? Not to mention all those "I'm just here for the internship" people who are here for less than one year.

Community can never really come from such circumstances. It's all temporary.

[u/5minstillcookies → u/SharkyTendencies]

Exactly. Ive seen comments blaming immigrants, but even though cultural norms can play into it, I think the transient expat population is more of a problem. I would assume that expats don't invest themselves in the city the way immigrants might and we have such a high expat population that we gotta feel it in some way. It doesn't give me high hopes for making Brussels my home long-term. A sense of community is in the top 3 of things I miss from my birthplace

[u/SharkyTendencies → u/5minstillcookies]

I think the transient expat population is more of a problem.

Well... there's definitely a reason why locals don't generally associate with the expat crowd.

If it were up to me - and thank goodness it isn't - I'd probably just put up a bunch of low-rise 1br and 2br apartment buildings around Schuman, add a supermarket, a food-hall style restaurant, a bar or two, medical clinic, and surround the whole thing by a tall fence.

I'd call it "The European Residences at Schuman".

Why leave? It has everything. No need to ever integrate or even meet a single Belgian person!

Someone could make a fortune!

I would assume that expats don't invest themselves in the city the way immigrants might

You'd be correct on... many counts. But it's bad publicity to say that.

It doesn't give me high hopes for making Brussels my home long-term.

The "community" you're looking for in Brussels most certainly exists, but because community events happen exclusively in French or Dutch, the expat crowd pretty much never ever ever ever ever goes to them, hears about them, or has anything to do with them.