The Story Behind The Name

Some writers are inspired by events in their lives, others by the state of the world, some are prolific, and I, a writer inspired by words.

If you have been writing for a long time you become a accustom to your process, so when “Courtesy Seat” came to me via “Translink BC” no one was taken for more of a ride then me, (pun intended).

To start, I am not that girl you know, the one who nervously races through the dozens of transfers caught in her pocket, searching for the one embossed with today’s date, no, before the beginning of this month I was an ozone polluting, music cranking, leave ten minutes before work driving bus snob. Today in fact, as I dug around for $2.25 in change, I chuckled to myself, recalling last semester’s petition to add Langara College to the list of schools that receive discounted bus passes. You can imagine the position I took at the time…..and the one I’m in now!

Probably the first thing I noticed that very first bus ride was the Courtesy Seats for “persons disabled and the elderly”. Beautiful I thought, what a….well, courteous gesture!

I am a sap, I hide it well behind a mask of cynicism and humor but alas, indulging in a moment of honesty here, I will admit, I tear up when vehicles pull aside to aid the screaming ambulances speeding off to people in need. I have this same reaction when people jump up in a show of respect to people more in need of a seat. Albeit in both scenarios it is actually required that they react in such a manner but I try not to let that skew the moment.

I left my first bus ride with a smile on my face, a lovely first impression of our pubic transit system and the public at large. It became my thing, ride the bus and observe the people in the courtesy seats. It always makes me a little uncomfortable when young people sit there in the front seats but as long as there is no one more in need I keep my opinions to myself, though you can always find me keeping a watchful eye for peoples disabled and elderly getting on. I have no issue making it known that people will be removing themselves from those seats should someone in need join our commute. I have become a bit of a courtesy seat “policer”; you’d be appalled at how busy my self appointed job keeps me.

Beyond the fact that I love the idea behind the courtesy seating and watching the typically good natured commuters jump at the chance to offer their comfort up for someone else, I am simply fascinated by who sits in those seats. I am talking about the people who deem themselves qualified as disabled and elderly. So many amazing human dynamics take place in the simplicity.

Sometimes an 85 year old woman gripping her cane will bypass those seats to join the leagues of able bodied riders standing closer to the back and then a 65 year old woman will hop on the bus and sit quite righteously in the front seats. This says to me a lot about how these two women view themselves and leaves me to wonder how much of how we perceive ourselves affects our abilities that an 85 year old woman using a cane can hold her own on a stop and go bus ride whereas another woman 20 years younger is unable. Food for thought.