Give up your seat for a monk

Should children give up their seats to adults on public transport?

Recent letters in the Times newspaper about a school party claiming all the seats on the London Underground made me smile. I have just returned from my first visit to Bangkok where the custom is that adults should give up their seats for children to use. A sign on the train asks passengers to give priority to the elderly and disabled, pregnant mothers, children……and monks!

Travelling on the Skytrain, I saw a middle-aged male passenger smilingly lifting a child onto his lap ( imagine that happening in the UK or America!) but when the five year old was understandably reluctant to stay with the stranger, the man laughed and stood so the child could use his seat.

I couldn't find out at what age this priority ends – but can you imagine the reaction of a child, used to being cosseted and given priority, suddenly finding that this status no longer applied because they were too old? What a shock!

Apparently in China they have designated the 22nd of each month “Give up your Seat Day"... but children and monks don’t appear to qualify.

The Women’s Institute has campaigned for many things in their 93 year history including community hospitals, apprenticeships and the need for local abattoirs …perhaps when I am at the annual meeting of East Suffolk Federation of Women’s Institutes this week, I could suggest children on public transport as a subject….