Public Transport In Spain Teaches Kentuckians Valuable Lessons On Respect

I just returned home from spending two weeks in Spain with my mom. I took her on a pre-Christmas getaway and we spent some time in Barcelona, before heading off for Madrid and Spain's former capital city, Toledo.

Anytime I travel abroad, I do my best to learn the public transportation systems of the cities I am in. I have found- through a lot of travel- that it's really the best way to get a true flavor of local culture.

See, when I visit new destinations, I want to live like the locals do. If I am going to experience Barcelona, I do so in a way that allows me to see the parts of Barcelona that 'tourists' may not get to see. I want to be among the city's people and a great way to do that is go underground and hop on a train with them.

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The same goes for Madrid. And I have to tell you, the Metro systems of both cities impressed me. They are easily navigated, dirt cheap, seamlessly clean, and the trains run like clockwork. If you miss one train, don't worry. The next is two minutes away. But, more than all of that, it was the train-riding younger generation of Spaniards that impressed me most.

I experienced something in Spain that I haven't experienced much here at home. And I experienced it, multiple, seemingly endless times, right on the Metro.

My mom is 72-years-old. She's getting around pretty well. Those little legs of hers realize that, when she's traveling with me, they're going to be putting a lot of miles on those feet of hers. So, anytime we boarded a Metro to shorten the distance between Point A and Destination B, she welcomed the chance to sit and just enjoy the train ride.

I have to tell you this. Many young Spaniards, repeatedly, got up from their seats and invited my mom to sit.

We spent a lot of time on public transportation and I saw this on virtually single train, every single ride. A young Spaniard would get up and offer his/her seat to someone older who was standing on the train. It was so impressive and so kind. And I gotta say it. I have not experienced that kind of 'respect for your elders' here at home. I have been on subway systems here in the U.S. too and it can truly be The Hunger Games of public transportation. It's every man and woman and teen for him or herself.

I was curious if any of our public transportation systems here in the U.S. even took the time to encourage this sort of selflessness. goDCgo.com, which serves Washington, DC, does share this tip among its Rules of the Rail. It says, "Priority seating is located near the doors and will be indicated by a sign. You may sit there if it is unoccupied, but be prepared to give up your seat to passengers with disabilities, pregnant passengers, and elderly passengers."

Okay, that's helpful and kind too. But, let's be real about it. That's for PRIORITY SEATING. Those seats are designed specifically for passengers in those categories anyway. Why is anyone else sitting there in the first place?

In Spain, the young riders were giving up regular seats to the elderly. They weren't doing it because it was suggested behavior on a website. They were doing it out of pure selflessness and respect. I have recently felt like our younger generation here in the U.S., as a whole, doesn't even know how to define respect, much less demonstrate it in a meaningful and impactful way.

But, in Spain, at least on the train, it was the norm. Y fue reconfortante.