TGIF whimsy: some Metrobus observations

Today I took a Metrobus to work.  It as usual was very crowded — and as usual mainly with young people.  A young man got up and offered me his seat.  I accepted and thanked him.

This brings me to my observations.  I don’t take the bus every day — maybe once a week. Before last year, no one ever gave me a seat on the bus — no one.  But last year and so far this year, every time I take a bus, I get offered a seat.  Last year, I was one year older than I was the year before.  Did that one year make such a difference in my persona that fellow bus riders felt guilty about sitting when une dame d’un certain age was standing?  Or was there a cultural shift in that year that made bus riders more polite?

I started keeping mental track of the general demographics of the “take my seat” group.  Here are my results that are pretty accurate for the 50-plus bus rides.  By far, the group that jumps to give up their seats are young white females,  followed by young Hispanic males, followed by young African-American males.  In a year and a quarter, not one young white male nor one African-American female has given up his or her seat, even though they’re about equally represented in the ridership.

I don’t have an explanation for this demographic breakdown, nor for my now getting seats on the bus.  But it is surprising — and interesting, I think, especially on a Friday afternoon.