Brooklyn-bound A-train, Wednesday evening. It's about 8:45, and a woman with a cane gets on the train at Columbus Circle. There are plenty of empty seats at this point, but she chooses to remain standing. At 42 St, a whole horde boards the train, and all empty seats are quickly filled. One man, after sitting down, notices the woman with the cane, who is still standing. He springs out of the seat, takes her elbow, and offers her his seat. She smiles and politely declines. He offers again. She thanks him again but tells him that she prefers to stand. He does not accept this, and continues to badger her to take his seat. She finally says, "I'll tell you what--if I change my mind, I'll ask you to get up."
"Well, would you rather I ask someone else to give up their seat?" he responds. Everyone within earshot starts laughing. We pull into 34th St, and he obviously decides that this is the best suggestion. He gets up again and stands in front of a triple-seat. "Alright," he says, "everybody up." So saying, he makes all three (oddly unprotesting) passengers stand up, then, with a flourish, directs the now-exhausted woman to the completely empty bench. She sits down with a smile and slight eyeroll. One of the displaced passengers sneaks around behind and snatches the man's former seat.
As we pull into 14th St, I stand to exit. The man takes my seat, saying loudly, "Whew! It's good to be able to sit down!"
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