Yes, the Japanese are egregiously polite, but I am becoming increasingly ticked off at behaviour I observe EVERY time I ride the subway. It happened again this morning. A sweet old lady in her 70s or 80s (well, she could be 130 considering how youthful Japanese people look) boarded the car. If they did a Japanese remake of Murder She Wrote, she could play Jessica "Fretcher".
Three women, roughly 25, 30 and late 30s, sat in the section where you are required by law to surrender to your seats to pregnant women, old or disabled people. None of them stood for her, but watched as she struggled to reach the hand rail to hang on. When one of these women left, another 30-something woman rushed to grab the seat ahead of the old lady. This pushed me over the edge.
"Hey!" I yelled, and got everyone's attention. "Give her the seat!" The old lady, realizing what I was doing but not wanting to make a fuss, said "okay, okay" in English and patted my back. The young woman who sat down stared at me venomously but didn't speak. "Yeah, you understand me, you fucking bitch!" I said. "When you're old, I hope nobdoy gives you a seat and you trip over your sagging tits and die." Well, I say these things when I'm outraged.
My new tactic will be to muscle people out of seats and hold them until someone who needs them gets onboard. I think the wankful politeness of bowing or saying "thank you" a dozen times is meaningless. When your feet are tired and you want to sit down and then you see an old person get on the train and struggle to stand, your basic human decency is put to the test. It's when politeness costs something of you that it becomes valuable.
Isn't this supposed to be a culture that values the elderly? I should remind the bitch in the heels who pushed the old lady out of a seat. Hmm... I might get someone to write a card that I can photocopy and hand out: "You have taken a seat from an old person who really needs to sit down. I am a gaijin and am pointing out that you are a worthless human being who has brought disgrace on your people. I hope your shame destroys you."
Vent ended.
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