articles
China Elevator Stories
“That young guy doesn’t have any manners”
I take a bus in Shenzhen together with my Chinese mother-in-law.
28/08/2014
Ruth Silbermayr
Author
One day in March 2014, my mother-in-law accompanies me to a prenatal check-up at a hospital in Shenzhen.
I’m six months pregnant and have a visible bump. We get on a small bus, and I stand in front of the seats reserved for the elderly, disabled, sick, pregnant, and those carrying children.
The small bus has three of these orange seats, and all are taken. Two guys in their 30s sit in the seats right next to where I’m standing and look my bump up and down. They don’t offer their seats.
At one of the next stops, an elderly woman gets on the bus. Almost immediately, one of the guys gets up to offer her his seat. My mother-in-law and I both notice what happens, but I don’t say anything about it to her.
The day after this occurrence, my mother-in-law and I have lunch together. We eat silently when she suddenly bursts out: “That young guy yesterday, he really doesn’t have any manners. He looked young and healthy; he really could have offered you his seat.”
Have you ever had to deal with a situation like this?
Note:
This was an exception. After my bump showed, I almost always got offered a seat in Shenzhen. Oftentimes, people would get up so I could sit down.