Thursday, March 15, 2007

Get Off The Bus!

My father taught me to offer my seat to a lady, persons with disabilities, and the elderly. It was the kind, respectful and honorable thing to do. It was a part of living in polite society and was considered the gentlemanly thing to do. Those days have all but passed and the world is about self-indulgence and egocentricity. Courtesy is for the weak.

A Letter to the Editor in today’s News-Leader was a perfect example of this. David Hayes states that he is inconvenienced when people who use wheelchairs use public transportation. He is further bothered by the fact that he has to give us his seat for them. I am so flabbergasted at his response that it took me some time to think of a response.

I don’t ride the city utilities bus, but the definition of public transportation implies that the bus is for everyone’s use and not just for those who do not have physical disabilities. It’s not just for Hayes or his friends. Seems he could use a good dose of compassion.

UPDATE:
Brian Lewis, Associate Editor Page Editor of the News-Leader wrote about the stupidity of this letter on his blog.


2 comments:

Anonymous said...

This editorial completely blew my mind! This is what was said about African Americans during the civil rights movement. The majority of folks would never fathom saying something like this of other protected groups anymore.

Duane k said...

Amazing...