Courtesy between Comrades

I often read about how discourteous people on public transport are - actually, I think the general expression is "rude". There's also some discourtesy -

• people who won't nurse their baggage
• children who use up seats on packed trains
• people who sit in aged/invalid seats & won't get up
• men who won't stand for a pregnant lady
• etc

Such social niceties - & some of these really are no more than that - seem to be made worse when you pack people tightly into a great leveller like public transport. Yes, I realise that some of these are conditions of travel, but being crippled means you take up more space, so you automatically lose human rights.

Then, this morning, I was watching a group that always sit together. They get on at various stops, the last member almost never getting the chance to join them - often having to sit a long way off. Today, she had to stand. I don't want to assume that her bulk is anything but pregnancy, so it was at least chivalrous for one of her male friends to give up his seat.

It got me thinking - would he have done so for a random person? Or would he have continued to sit chatting to his friends? The group is mixed, but mature, & it totals more than the six that would fit together if they were all there every day. How does the way we treat people socially change dependent on how well we know them - or how much we think we can get out of being courteous?
He got lots of kudos from his friends. Most people would have gained what has been described as like urinating in dark pants - a warm feeling that no-one notices.