Thursday, September 28, 2006
Etiquette dilemma
I got on the subway, saw an empty seat, and sat down. This lady got on shortly after me, but there were no seats so she stood up in front of me. Then, several stops later, one of the people sitting next to me got off, so the lady standing in front of me sat down next to me. As she moved to sit down, the way her moved and hung showed me that she was pregnant - at least I think she was pregnant! I didn't notice the apparent pregnancy while she was just standing still. I felt like I should apologize to her for not offering her my seat, but there was the tricky question of what if she isn't actually pregnant? What's the proper thing to do in this situation?
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I'll admit I probably wouldn't have thought of this in the moment, but I think the solution would have been to give her a smile indicating you were quite exasperated with yourself as you say "Oh my gosh, I'm sorry, I wasn't paying enough attention. I should have let you sit down earlier."
This lets you apologize gracefully and sincerely, without referencing the pregnancy question. I don't see how you could come off to her and everyone nearby as anything less than thoughtful, considerate and polite.
How's that for a save?
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