23-year-old woman wonders if she's wrong for refusing to give her seat to 8-year-old boy and his "late 30s" mother: 'A few people gave me dirty looks, and I felt awkward'

What is the etiquette these days when it comes to public transport? Not to sound like an "old man shouting at clouds," but it really does seem like etiquette—along with mutual unspoken respect and other social decorum—has gone completely out the window. Still, along with that, and theoretically causal of the previous issue is that people just seem generally more entitled and individualistic, it's all about "me me me" and "what can be done that benefits me" rather than partaking in the upholding of the greater good…

The greater good.

Still, it seems like entitlement and not poor public transport etiquette behavior was the issue here. Normally, as a younger, able-bodied person, you'd give up your seat in a second for someone who was elderly, pregnant, or otherwise handicapped. Otherwise, seats sort of tend to operate on a first-come-first-serve basis, and just being "previously pregnant" (aka a mother) doesn't really qualify you to be entitled to a seat… Even though, evidently, some parents seem to think it does.

Besides, kids have a whole lot of years of standing ahead of them so they might as well start with standing somewhere. Plus, their joints don't ache yet, so really, they should be the last ones to get a seat.