Anyone who’s ever commuted in Metro Manila knows that our mass public transport system is not for the faint of heart. It’s crowded, hot, unpredictable, and just downright stressful.
But despite this, we try our best to be courteous and considerate of other passengers. So whenever we come across incidents where passengers lose their cool, we somehow understand, because we’ve all been there. But when it involves terrorising kids, well that’s a different story.
Elderly Man’s Outburst on LRT Goes Viral: What Happened?
In a viral Facebook post, an elderly man is seen having an outburst while riding the LRT. The unidentified man lashed out and forced two seated kids to give up a priority seat.
A Facebook user named Ian Jordan shared footage of the incident that happened at the LRT-1.
“Isang matanda, Pagpasok pa lang ng bagon sinigawan niya agad ang 2 bata na may edad na 3 to 5 na, ‘tumayo kayo dyan! Umalis kayo dyan at uupo ako!’ Nagulat ang mga bata at kita sa mukha ang takot at pagkagulat pati ang ina nila may bitbit pang [sanggol],” writes the netizen, adding how the elderly man seemed to even brag about being a lawyer and CPA. He says he knows the law and his rights. He even went so far as to challenge the kids’ moms to a fist fight.
He then told her that if the kids can stand, they should be made to stand. At one point, he also held up his senior citizen’s ID to emphasise his point.
On the LRT, priority seats are reserved for pregnant women, senior citizens, and parents with kids. Senior citizens are entitled to other benefits like restaurants discount and in some areas of the Metro, free movie tickets.
You can watch the two clips, which have been shared over 33,000 times in two weeks, below.
What Moms and Dads Should Know About Commuting Etiquette in Metro Manila
As with any viral video, the clips above only show part of the story. Though we want to give the man the benefit of the doubt. (We’ve all had our rough days.) There is an important lesson to be learned here.
Contrary to what the angry elderly man was claiming, there is no law that states senior citizens can demand to be seated on trains.
Whether or not there is a law, however, there are certain rules of etiquette we should all follow as adults. These good manners should be passed down to our kids for them to become good members of society.
We all have our bad days and we are all entitled to being in a bad mood. But we should strive to keep our bad mood from translating to bad manners.
Here’s how you can teach commuting etiquette to kids
To avoid incidents like the outburst on LRT from negatively influencing our kids, we should teach them that their bad mood shouldn’t translate to bad manners. | image courtesy: shutterstock
- Give up your seat if you want to. They do have the choice to give way to elderly, pregnant passengers. But they should never be forced to do so.
- Always be polite. If they need to pass, they should not push people aside. Rather, they should say ‘excuse me’ first. They should also say ‘please’ and ‘thank you’ as needed.
- Make way for others who are in a hurry. In the same way that they should say ‘excuse me’ often, they should also be considerate of those who are in a rush, by making way on escalators, stairs,a nd other pedestrian areas.
- Cover your mouth when you cough and sneeze. In a crowded train, it’s common decency to cover up! This will instil good habits in them, too, which they can carry with them into adulthood.
- Don’t talk too loudly. Yelling and shouting are bad habits that can annoy other passengers.
- Don’t snoop on other’s conversations. Respect the privacy of others and don’t sneak a peek on their phones or eavesdrop on conversations.
- When someone is rude to you, do not return the favor. It takes maturity not to retaliate when attacked verbally or physically, but kids need to learn restraint. And moms and dads need to do so, too!
How do you encourage your kids stay polite on your commute? Let us know in the comments below.
Also READ: Pregnant mom faints, falls on railway tracks
