Right or wrong?

Right or wrong?
Feb 22, 2008 01:54
FRANKENSTEIN Points: Join Date: Nov 29, 2004 Status: offline	From today (Feb 22nd), Beijing will set every month's 22nd as Offering Seat Day. Meanwhile, those who don't offer their seats to the weak people will be publicized by the media. It is said that the purpose is to encourage more people to offer their seats to the weak people. But some people say that it is not right to publicize them in the mass media. What do you think? Do we have to force the implementation by publicizing those who violate the rule?

Feb 22, 2008 01:54

FRANKENSTEIN
Points:
Join Date: Nov 29, 2004
Status: offline

From today (Feb 22nd), Beijing will set every month's 22nd as Offering Seat Day. Meanwhile, those who don't offer their seats to the weak people will be publicized by the media. It is said that the purpose is to encourage more people to offer their seats to the weak people. But some people say that it is not right to publicize them in the mass media. What do you think? Do we have to force the implementation by publicizing those who violate the rule?

Feb 22, 2008 11:27	#1
GRIZ326 Points: Join Date: Jun 12, 2006 Status: Offline	Encouraging courtesy is a good thing. The way it is being done is not as elegant as the objective.

Feb 24, 2008 01:59	#2
APAULT Points: Join Date: Mar 11, 2006 Status: Offline	Right idea but I suspect the 'dog's bark is worse than its bite'.

Feb 24, 2008 20:22

TOMSPENCER
Points:
Join Date: Feb 8, 2005
Status: Offline

I'd like to think that if a thing like courtesy is truly a value that we all consider to be meritous, then there should be a focus on instilling in people a sense that they really ought to behave in such a way. That not only is it right to do such a thing, but also that it is each person's civic responsiblity to behave in such a manner. I don't know whether telling tales on non-conformers is really the right way to go about it. Perhaps it's a step in the right direction, though. I honestly don't know.

I am reminded of a train journey home from London late one evening, with my mother and her friend (both in their retirement years). The train was packed - standing room only (nothing new there). My mother's friend is particularly frail, having had a new hip, and was understandably very tired from a day in London. Most of the seats had been taken by young people (I'd guess in their late teens or early 20s).

My mother and her friend weren't the only older people on the train - quite a few of those standing seemed to be in their sixties or older. Perhaps they were just too slow to get the seats. Anyway, one young lady saw a very elderly gentleman quite close to where she was seated, and she got up and offered her seat to him. Thanking her for the offer, the old man refused, adding "I will never sit down while a lady is standing". A few of the young men sitting nearby went rather red in the face and pretty quickly enough of them had stood up to ensure that all the elderly people on the train had got somewhere to sit.

Feb 24, 2008 20:45	#4
JIMMYB Points: Join Date: Feb 7, 2007 Status: Offline	Quote:"Encouraging courtesy is a good thing. The way it is being done is not as elegant as the objective." Agree with Griz! Courtesy is the basic thing that a civilized and educated human should know and do. If we are forced to offer our seats to the elderly or the weak, we are as barbarian as savages.

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