The Modern Gentleman

While I'm not perfect, I do try at least to be a 'gentleman'.  I do gentlemanly things like holding doors open for people, giving my coat/jumper to my cold wife, helping ladies with prams looking perplexed at stairs and the general consideration of my fellow humans.  I even stop thieves stealing someones phone on Oxford Street (Don't give your iPhone 5's to strangers, it's not a wise move).  But one gentlemanly activity throws me into a world of paranoia and confusion; giving up your seat.  I regularly frequent the 'Tube' to get from A to B, and for the most part my working commute goes against the commuting norm, heading towards outer London, so I usually have a carriage to my lonesome.  However, when in full commuter crowds the rules seem some what 'every-man/women-for-themselves'!  The standard traditional rules for a gentleman is to give up ones seat for a lady.  However, travelling in a rush hour, if this rule were to apply you'd never have a seat.  And I hear some of you saying "Well, just give up your seat for pregnant ladies or older people."  This would also be fine is the person is very old or very obviously pregnant, but we have all been in that situation where we are trying to visually calculate someones body mass index over the possibility they are pregnant.  As Jimmy Carr once said "I'd rather see a pregnant lady standing, than a fat give sat down crying."  And where does the line stop with someones age!?  The other day I was on the underground during rush hour, sat down, and a lady came onto the train with some other travellers at Russell Square.  I am bad at guessing age at the best of times, but I would have said she could have been anywhere been 45 to 65.  Does this warrant giving up my seat?  Again, the lady might take offence to such an offering as there were other ladies around her and it would have been obviously about her age if I selected her out.  

I never normally feel a great need to sit, but last night returning home from a friends house I was in most need of a seat.  I was suffering from back pain and needed to rest my tired limbs.  As we neared the centre of the city and more people entered the carriages and I began feeling scowls from certain female passengers for my seated position, from women of a young age and some younger than me.  I felt I needed a sign to state my reason for requiring a seat, as I regularly also give my seat up for no good reason.  I wanted to say "Normally I would give up my seat and stand happily, but I'm sorry, I have injured my back a really need this seat."  The women continue to send me daggers with their eyes.  I stood up.  Sometimes, it's not easy being a gentleman.