Sitting comfortably? Then I shall begin...

IF SHE saw that an older person had no seat on the tube, my mother would give me a sharp elbow jab to eject me from mine and offer it for their travelling-ease in a fraction of a second.

- Vanessa Feltz

Then, "older" did not mean ancient and in advanced stages of decrepitude. Older simply meant older than I, a mere minor. Manners meant deference to maturity. Children stood so adults could be seated. Small children sat on their parents' laps.

On Saturday, strap-hanging on the Jubilee Line on the London Underground a gaggle of girls aged (I guessed) around nine were seated while more senior travellers, several clearly way past pension age, were forced to stand. Not one of the adults in charge appeared uncomfortable with the situation.