Would you give your seat up?

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How many of you would give your seat in church to an elderly person or a woman with a baby in arms?
I’m just curious. I arrived on time for mass the other day, but church was packed, and I stood throughout while several young men sat a couple of feet from me. Granted, I’m not decrepit, but am old enough to be their grandmother. So i just wondered if my church is typical.
I did see a young woman with a baby who got to sit. 🙂
 
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Viki59:
How many of you would give your seat in church to an elderly person or a woman with a baby in arms?
I’m just curious. I arrived on time for mass the other day, but church was packed, and I stood throughout while several young men sat a couple of feet from me. Granted, I’m not decrepit, but am old enough to be their grandmother. So i just wondered if my church is typical.
I did see a young woman with a baby who got to sit. 🙂
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It would only be common courtesy. I have an eighteen month old, but I usually am standing the whole time (out of necessity)
 
Chances are, that if you’re standing in a church, you stand at the back, not in front of where people are sitting. Also, people in the church tend to face the front (unless they are really distracted). So I reckon that these men simply didn’t notice you standing there.
 
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Flopfoot:
Chances are, that if you’re standing in a church, you stand at the back, not in front of where people are sitting. Also, people in the church tend to face the front (unless they are really distracted). So I reckon that these men simply didn’t notice you standing there.
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In our church we stand along the sides, lean on the radiator, etc. It was really packed, all the way up the side aisles.
 
so get there a little earlier and get a seat. Problem solved. For the others, perhaps they should just show up late as a nice gesture so they don’t have to worry about taking your seat.
 
an old-time usher would make sure such a person gets a seat, even if he had to remind a teenager to stand up.
 
When I was little it was expected that men would stand for women.

Since women’s lib got going really hard in the 1980s, I have gotten sneers, dirty looks and comments for holding doors and for offering seats.

These days we are so “equal” that to stand for a woman is not always considered chivalrous, but sometimes as an attack on her manliness I suppose. :rolleyes:

Alan
 
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AlanFromWichita:
These days we are so “equal” that to stand for a woman is not always considered chivalrous, but sometimes as an attack on her manliness I suppose. :rolleyes:

Alan
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Hahaha excellent and hilarious way to put it!

PS Congrats on reaching 6000 posts!
 
In our church the ushers just get some foldable-chairs out if we run out of room, as it is a massive church, it has never happened that old people had to stand, although we have had children sitting on the floor in the aisles to make space for adults, but that was last Christmas.

Anna x
 
Yes, I do. But I first instruct my pre-teen sons to give up their seats. Then if there is still a need, I give up mine. Never hurts to give the young uns a lesson in chivalry. 😃
 
I always give up my seat to an older woman, whether in Church or on the subway or bus. It’s just the right thing to do, however I am typically pretty involved in the moment when I’m at Mass, so I don’t spend the entire Mass looking around to see if there’s an older lady or man who needs a seat.
 
I would (and have) given up my seat for older people and for pregnant women before. It’s usually when we’re waiting to be seated in a restaurant or someplace similar, though, not in church. In fact, one time I stood up to let an older (though not elderly) couple sit down and before they got to the bench, 2 girls younger than I sat down. :rolleyes:

Once for Easter Mass we were later in getting there than we should have been and I had a 3 month old. We were standing in the back and I had to explain to the usher several times that I didn’t want his seat because my son wouldn’t let me sit down anyway. He kept insisting that I should sit down. It was very sweet. 🙂

I don’t know that my DH would give up his seat. He would if I suggested it to him but he just doesn’t think of stuff like that.
 
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Viki59:
How many of you would give your seat in church to an elderly person or a woman with a baby in arms?
I’m just curious. I arrived on time for mass the other day, but church was packed, and I stood throughout while several young men sat a couple of feet from me. Granted, I’m not decrepit, but am old enough to be their grandmother. So i just wondered if my church is typical.
I did see a young woman with a baby who got to sit. 🙂
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I would give mine up BUT the solution for you is to get to Church early-I do.
 
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estesbob:
I would give mine up BUT the solution for you is to get to Church early-I do.
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There is only one problem.

When more people come to Mass than there are seats, this strategy can only work for a certain number of them.

If everybody took this approach, we would be right back around to the same exact problem until we had vigils staking out overnight before Mass like ticket sales for sellout rock concerts.

Alan
 
The ushers at my parish don’t let things like this happen, but they are masters of fitting as many people into a pew as will fit.

I’ve noticed it on the bus I ride back from college in the afternoons. It gets really crowded on Monday afternoons, and there’s an attitude of “I got a seat and will keep it at all costs.”
 
How many of you would give your seat in church to an elderly person or a woman with a baby in arms?
I’m just curious. I arrived on time for mass the other day, but church was packed, and I stood throughout while several young men sat a couple of feet from me. Granted, I’m not decrepit, but am old enough to be their grandmother. So i just wondered if my church is typical.
I did see a young woman with a baby who got to sit.
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People often do for my sister, and ofcourse she is highly embaressed every time.

I would love to think that I would, but if I was presented with the situation, I am not sure that I would - which I am not proud of 😦
 
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AlanFromWichita:
…If everybody took this approach, we would be right back around to the same exact problem until we had vigils staking out overnight before Mass like ticket sales for sellout rock concerts.
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Wouldn’t that be great?!
 
I would give up my seat and my husband as well. We have a very small church and if you don’t arrive early you probably will be standing on the sides. My kids think I am nuts telling them on Sunday morning to hurry up and get ready so we can leave at least 1/2 before mass. We live 15 minutes away but I make my whole family leave 1/2 before mass. On Easter and Christmas it is even early. We may arrive in church early but we have a seat and we can spend some quiet time with Jesus.
 
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