I meant to post this last month:
Jan. 19, 2008
Denver had about 4 inches of snow again last night, so, instead of riding my bike, I walked to the Civic Center bus station at the head of 16th Street and took the free bus down to Wynkoop St., which is at the other end of the 16th Street Mall. The bus is designed mostly for standing, although there are some seats. A young man was sitting in the only seat near the front when I got on, and some people were still crossing the street in front of the bus. One of them was an elderly man with a cane and a hat emblazoned, “WWII Veteran.” He boarded the bus slowly. The young man offered him the seat, but he said, “No, I can’t sit. Go ahead and sit down.” Maybe his knees hurt and he had difficulty getting up again after sitting.
It occurred to me that, if I had boarded the bus about two blocks later and had seen the young man sitting while the veteran stood, I would have been annoyed that people are so discourteous. Just goes to show how ready I still am to jump to conclusions about people on the basis of inadequate information.
