While on the train, you may have noticed that the elderly sometimes refuse an empty seat.

Why they are reluctant to sit

A Reddit post by u/MissCreepyStories recently offered some suggestions as to why some elderly folks may be reluctant to sit on the MRT train.

The main reason, according to her?

Many elderly have problems balancing on a moving train.

Cannot get up

In an anecdote, she said she witnessed how an elderly man was hesitant to take a seat in the middle of the cabin because he had difficulties getting up from the seat:

"When the train was reaching his stop, he tried to stand up from his seat in the middle of the cabin. He was unable to get up from the seat by himself with no pole to hold onto. He was waving his arms and trying to stop himself from falling as he got up from the seat on just his two legs. The other commuters had to hold him as he was in danger of falling down."

Cannot balance well

In a second anecdote, she shared that another elderly man "was afraid of let go of the pole he was holding on to" in order to move to an empty seat.

The old man was slightly blocked by another commuter leaning against the partition next to an empty seat.

"Just letting go of the pole and navigating that little detour on a moving train was a huge challenge to the elderly man," she explained.

Urged others to give the elderly a helping hand

In her post, she said that we are unable to understand the problems of the elderly "because we have never been in their position".

Emphasising that "the elderly are really fragile", she urged others to offer to hold the arm of an elderly person as they are getting to their seat.

"Some of them are too embarrassed to admit that they need help with something as simple as walking across a moving train floor or getting up," she added.

You can read the full thread here.

Top photo via Shutterstock.