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Should The Boyfriend Give Up His Seat For His Girlfriend In Public Transport?

The internet is currently discussing a Reddit thread where the boyfriend was labelled 'inconsiderate' after he refused to give up a bus seat to his girlfriend, justifying that she was 'fitter' to travel standing than him

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Avishka Tandon
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A recent conversation on Reddit is the current talk of the town as it spoke about how a guy refused to offer his seat on a bus to his girlfriend who was wearing heels and the internet is calling the guy 'inconsiderate'. Here's the entire story of what happened.
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Men are often expected to give up their seat in public transport for women and this is considered a sign of chivalry. However, there has been a constant debate on how men are expected to be chivalrous even when they need the seat more than the female. Giving up your seat for a specially-abled person, senior citizen or pregnant woman is a different thing but offering it to a woman who is fit enough to stand and fitter than the man himself is an over-exaggeration of this chivalry. However, a recent Reddit thread talked about a quite complicated situation and here's what it said.


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Boyfriend Refuses To Give Bus Seat To Girlfriend

In an incident shared on Reddit, a man talked about how he and his girlfriend were dressed up to go to an event in the city and took the bus to reach there. They came to know that they have some errands to complete and had to walk for about an hour on the cobblestone paths in the city. When they took the bus home, he got on first and took the last available seat and his girlfriend had to stand. His girlfriend told him that she was wearing heels and was tired of walking and asked him to give her the seat which he refused. Back at home, she called him inconsiderate.

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The man, in his defence, wrote that he was breathless and needed the seat more than the girlfriend who was fitter and worked out regularly. He also stated that it wasn't his fault she chose to wear heels. The internet started calling the man inconsiderate too and thought it was insensitive of him to say that it was his girlfriend's choice to wear heels when she clearly didn't know they will have to walk for an hour in the city. Actually, this situation has many aspects to it. Now, heels are really uncomfortable and the girl must have had a hard time walking.

If this was a situation between strangers, it was completely a matter of choice and the man wouldn't have been inconsiderate just because he didn't give up the seat he got first. The girls can travel standing, that's not an issue when options are not available. Chivalry is a choice, not a necessity and there must have been reasons. However, considering this was a situation between couples, it could have had a better solution than compromise.

For example, the guy could have shifted a little to let her sit or offered his lap for her to sit on if she was comfortable. He could have told her he was having trouble standing and travelling and made her understand. He could have suggested she take off her heels and offered his shoes for comfort. That's how the couple would have accommodated the differences instead of making it a compromise.

Actually, this shows the type of relationship the couple had. There are many times when the couple disagrees on certain things and find it hard to compromise their own beliefs and choices. In such cases, healthy communication is the best way of finding common ground. In the case of this Reddit user, it seems that none of them was really looking forward to accommodating their differences as nobody offered any other solution other than one of them standing and travelling. Tell us what's your take on the entire situation in the comments.

Views expressed by author are their own

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