I was once riding a very busy subway with some employees when one of them jokingly said to me, "You know if you could learn how to look your age, you could sit there in that senior seat".

Seriously, have any of you ever invoked the senior seat privilege? Typically it would never occur to me to do so, but earlier this year, after I had been quite ill and was just too tired to stand, I asked a young person to give me their seat on a subway and they were very gracious to do so immediately. It felt very strange to do that, even though I was easily old enough to be their grandmother, but I am glad I had that option.

The funny thing is that I have voluntarily given up my seat for a "senior" on a number of occassions, only to find out later that the "senior" in question was several years younger than I. Of course, I would always offer up my seat to anyone who was clearly older than I.

Gracious? Why were they letting a lady stand anyway???? (or had you only just boarded??)

My 72 year old Mum gives her seat to younger (but admittedly less healthy) people regularly... she thinks she's about 25 so that's OK...:D

Here in Paris I've seen that happen quite often. The seniors have a card identifying them as such, which they sometimes show when they ask for your seat. Sometimes they'll even ask people for seats that are not designated (I always offer mine anyway, but many people don't).

Last week on a crowded bus I watched an elderly woman ask a 50-ish man for the senior seat he was sitting in and he actually refused even after she showed him her ID card; he just grumbled something about being a war veteran and went back to reading his paper. Another man sitting nearby offered her his seat instead. This is the only time I've ever seen someone not move; usually people are more considerate or at least cooperative.

Anyway, if you come to Paris and use the buses or metro, don't hesitate to ask for a seat if you need one. The designated seats are indicated by orange stickers on the wall.

Last Friday at SeaTac I noticed a very old woman, who was obviously struggling to walk, heading toward the train to the North concourse. I got on the train just before she did and asked a young woman, who was very engrossed in a conversation with her friend, to vacate her seat and offer it to this old woman. She moved willingly, but I am confident that she never would have noticed that the lady needed the seat if it had not been pointed out to her.