The ‘Reserved Seat’ Has Been Abused by Online Social Justice Warriors

Last Updated on 2021-12-11 , 12:58 pm

If you’re a young chap who’s not lived in the 90s before, allow me to bring you back to the 90s, when shitty platforms like Goody Feed didn’t exist yet, and social justice warriors had no platform to humblebrag.

In the 90s, there were reserved seats, and any Tom, Dick or Harry could just sit on it. Usually, when Tom saw an elderly, he would just stand up and give the seat to the elderly. Or sometimes, he just stood up and continued reading his newspaper while standing.

Sometimes, Harry would be sleeping and be awoken by Dick, who reminded him that there’s a pregnant lady. Harry would sheepishly stand up, still in his dreams, and continue sleeping while leaning on something (sometimes on Dick).

Now, fast-forward to today. The world has changed.

Every single time (yes, literally every single time) I take the train, I won’t sit on the reserved seat even if the train is empty AF, even if there are no elderly or pregnant women on board. And I’m not the only one: it’s common to see a crowded train with the reserved seat empty, as if some “good brother” is occupying the seat.

My only reason for not sitting on it, compared to what I used to do the 90s, is this: I might wake up to see my face plastered on Facebook, and I might be CSI-ed, and I might lose my job, and my life might be over.

All because I sat on a reserved seat.

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You see, in the past, those Toms, Dicks and Harrys aren’t social justice warriors: when Dick woke Harry up, he sincerely wanted to help the pregnant woman. He might feel good after helping the pregnant woman, and tell 10 of his friends about his good deed, but that’s acceptable. Humans live for self-esteem, and a little bragging without consequences is harmless.

Now, it’s different.

The same Dick wants to tell 500 of his friends about his good deed. In fact, some would want 50,000 people to know about his good deed. And to achieve that? Get Harry off the seat, film the process and write a lengthy commentary about how society is no longer the same.

His objective isn’t a commentary to change society, because if he wants to do that, he can join Goody Feed whereby we even pay him to write stuff that can help society.

His ultimate goal, hidden beneath those hundred of words about society, is this: “HEY ALL I JUST HELPED AN ELDERLY I AM KIND PLEASE TELL OTHERS I AM KIND KTHXBYE.”

It’s called humblebragging by the way.

But here’s the thing: to him, it’s harmless (and very, very beneficial for his insecurities) and boost his ego to the max, but the collateral damage is done.

That innocent man who was really tired became a bad guy because he was sleeping on the reserved seat.

You see, in order to show you that I’m kind, I need evilness. If there’s no evilness, I’ll create one—ethnics doesn’t matter because in the Internet, portraying a good story garner the most Shares, especially with an omission of truth and a focus on a victim that everyone can relate to.

In other words, play on the emotions. Not the context (or truth).

After all, remember the $10 BMW driver? So far, the driver has indicated that the pump attendant is rude, and no one has stepped forward to claim that the claim is absolutely fake (someone just said that the pump attendant is a nice guy).

While we’re not siding with the BMW driver (of course, who would?), this is a good example of how an omission of truth, and even when truth is revealed, won’t work as long as the story is good enough, and emotions have been cemented.

Now, back to the reserved seat thingy: people armed with smartphones are dying to be the next Dick (yes, pun intended). And we, the Harrys who are kind to give up our seats to those who need them, suffer.

Why do we have so many Dicks in society?

Simple: there have been many Dicks since the beginning of time. They’ve just evolved into Online Social Justice Warriors.

Instead of merely openly bragging to friends about their so-called “kindness”, they need validation in a larger scale with the least effort, and the Internet provides the platform. Like what Wikipedia suggests, “The accusation that somebody is an SJW carries implications that they are pursuing personal validation rather than any deep-seated conviction, and engaging in disingenuous arguments.”

What can we do about this?

I’ll say avoid the reserved seat. At least, until SJWs decide to move on.

But for that to happen, it’s almost as difficult as waiting for a disruption-less MRT station.

For me, I’ll continue to avoid the reserved seats. I won’t want SJWs to create evilness in me just for them to portray kindness.

To know more about this topic, watch this video to the end:

Featured Image: Bima Adhitya / Shutterstock.com