Generally when one spots an elderly person on public transport, the general etiquette is to offer one's seat to them. I have had an elderly person offer HER seat to me on a tram once because I was coughing my lungs out after a strenous run to catch the tram, but that's another story.
So what is the etiquette for waiting in line?
On the weekend, Gaz and I went to Open House Melbourne 2012 in the city. Yes, we braved the wind, rain and the cold to visit two venues - the Hive Apartment and Victoria Trades Hall.
When we got to the Hive Apartment, there were about 30 people waiting in line to the entrance of the apartment. So we got in line and soon after, two elderly ladies (about 55 to 60 years old) arrived behind us. They chatted cheerily to the volunteer stationed at the apartment whose job was to ensure that only about 20 people are in the apartment at all times (to avoid overcrowding) and to present some trivia on the said property.
We waited for about 15 minutes before we were finally the second couple in line to enter the property. The volunteer then told us to take our shoes off and place them by the back wall, which was a couple of steps away from where we were standing. So about 10 of us next in line did what we were told and got back to our places in the line.
Whaddya know.......!! The two elderly ladies who were BEHIND us had stationed themselves in FRONT of us in the line after we all returned from putting our shoes by the wall. They had the gall to pretend that nothing happened. It's not like it was difficult to recognise us since we were the only Asians around!!! Surely they knew that jumping queue is the WRONG thing to do.
But no..... they looked at us, we looked at them. They pretended like they were in the right and inched closer to the entrance. No one said anything. Gaz and I were both fuming but because they're old we agreed to let it slip. Oh yes, we had to wait for another minute after the ladies went into the apartment for viewing.
IF they had asked us nicely if they could go first because their feet was aching, not feeling well, old, then I have no reservations about letting them go first. But what happened was just unbelievable... Gaz said they pretending to be nice and all made him sick.
All too often the older generation generalises the younger generation as rude and disrespectful. But look at the pot calling the kettle black now!!!