"Mrs Redboots" wrote in message
...
Ian F. wrote to uk.transport.london on Fri, 1 Jul 2005:

Moreover, would you, a 55-year-old man, *really* remain seated while a
mother with a young child in her arms was standing?????

I would offer but it would be wrong of her to expect it as a divine right.
He may have been unsteady on his legs or had all manner of reasons for not
standing up.

I remember when I was in my teens travelling on a train with some friends. A
woman who was carrying a suitcase and who had two children with her burst
into my compartment (trains still had compartments then!) and glared angrily
at us. Immediately she had come in, one of us had stood up to offer to put
her suitcase on the rack for her, since she had the children to look after.
He'd hardly finished standing up when she laid into us: "Isn't any one of
you miserable specimens enough of a gentlemen to offer to help a lady with
her suitcase?" Said my friend, sitting down again, "Well I *was* just about
to offer, but if that's your attitude and you're going to *demand* it then I
don't think I'll bother." That shut her up!

If anyone ever holds a door open for me or gives up their seat for me (eg
moving their bags that they've got next to them) I always make a point of
saying "Thanks ever so much. Much appreciated" even if I've been hoping that
they will do so - politeness costs nothing. All too often I've found that
women don't thank me if I hold a door open for them, whereas men almost
invariably do. It seems so obvious to me that the first person through a
door should hold it open for the person (man or woman) just behind them that
I don't know why some women feel offended by it.