SINGAPORE: A man recovering from knee surgery shared on social media that MRT passengers were surprisingly reluctant to let him sit in the reserved seat. In his post on r/askSingapore, he mentioned he could not stand for too long.
“[I’m] wearing a knee brace now so I guess people can tell I’m injured. Have been working from home for a while but decided to go back to work today so my boss knows I’m still around,” he said.
However, his commute on the MRT that morning was anything but smooth. As he boarded the packed train, he found all the seats were taken. Knowing he couldn’t stand for long due to his knee pain, he politely asked a person in a reserved seat if he could sit there instead.
“They eyed me up and down and reluctantly gave up the seat,” he recounted. “But I could tell they were pretty unhappy about it,” he added.
As if the discomfort of asking for a seat wasn’t enough, the situation took a heart-wrenching turn a few stops later. An elderly man boarded the train and stood directly in front of him, clearly expecting the seat to be vacated.
“I told him ‘Sorry uncle, my leg pain I need to sit.’ He glared at me and muttered something like ‘useless s**t.’
It’s been gnawing at me the whole day. Should I have sat at a non-reserved seat so that someone else could sit there instead? I felt quite bad but I really needed the seat so I don’t really think I’m in the wrong?” he asked after sharing his unpleasant experience.
“Please do not feel obligated to give up your seat just because there’s an elderly standing right in front of you.”
In the comments section, many Singaporean Redditors reassured the man that he had no reason to feel guilty for taking the reserved seat given his condition. They advised him to disregard the elderly man’s reaction.
One Redditor said, “You have all the reason to deserve the seat. Ignore or give them the glaring stare and show them your injured leg. Some people need to be forced to learn train etiquette and you’re in the right spot for this.
Get well soon nonetheless and hopefully you’ll have a more pleasant experience while recovering!”
Another wrote, “Please do not feel obligated to give up your seat just because there’s an elderly standing right in front of you.
Your injured leg warrants you a seat. After all, doesn’t the sign for the reserve seat say it is prioritized to the pregnant, the injured and/or elderly? The person sitting right beside you should have given up his/her seat for that uncle instead.”
A third Redditor commented, “The old man was just announcing his uselessness to the world. Just ignore these people.”
Others suggested he could ask for a yellow lanyard with “May I have a seat please?” wording from any MRT station. Wearing that and his knee brace should make it clear to everyone that he needs a seat.
One Redditor added, “Unfortunately people are ignorant about invisible or less visible disabilities. You should make your injury more visible by getting the lanyard, playing up the limp, or maybe make your brace more eye-catching.”
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