Pregnant woman left standing on C-Train bemoans bad manners

An expectant mother in Calgary says she is appalled by the lack of good manners displayed by fellow C-Train riders who failed to offer her a seat.

Mandy Flynn, who is eight months pregnant, says on more than one occasion she has not been offered a seat on crowded C-Trains — a rudeness that resulted in her fainting on one occasion.

“It was winter, it was hot on the train, and I was feeling lightheaded, nobody was giving up their seats. And we were between stations so I wasn’t able to step outside to get some air,” she said.

“And when I felt myself at the point of nearly blacking out I asked some girl to move, however, I just didn’t get the words out on time and ended up fainting around 10th Street.”

Flynn said on a more recent ride she was left standing even after making eye contact with people sitting in the priority seating area.

“And everybody looked up and then looked back down at their handheld devices,” she said.

“About four stops into it a woman finally looked up and said, ‘Would you like to sit down.’ And I said ‘Yes, thank you’ and took my seat. But I mean, at that point, the effect of kindness has come and gone.”

Flynn said she is worried that politeness to strangers in need is disappearing from the culture.

“I’ve seen people get on with crutches and nobody moves," she said.

“It just makes me question people’s priorities. In the morning time we’re all commuting, we’re all tired, and yet, you know, my parents raised me to believe that, you know, there’s always someone that’s more in need than you are."

“And I’m not sure that’s being ingrained in kids today," Flynn added.

The Calgary Eyeopener’s Unconventional Panel weighed in on whether common courtesy is dying in Calgary.​ Click here to hear that conversation.