London Underground commuter thanks chivalrous men for giving up seats on Tube '100 per cent of the time' after fracturing ankle

The commuter thanked men for giving up their seats on the Tube for her (file image)
Viktor Forgacs/Unsplash
Megan White27 June 2019

A commuter has thanked male Tube passengers for standing up to give her a seat after she was forced to travel with a fractured ankle.

Natasha Lempriere, 31, has been “hobbling” from Sudbury Town to Hammersmith for two weeks after she injured herself.

She said although she has occasionally had to stand for “one or two stations,” every time someone has gotten up to give her a seat it has been a man.

The West London Trust healthcare assistant went viral on Reddit after she said she wanted to thank men as “they have been getting a lot of bad press recently.”

Ms Lempriere said: “There has been a few occasions where I've gone a station or two standing up, but someone usually offers eventually.

“I think a lot of the time people pretend not to notice and hope someone else will offer, but when someone does notice they do tend to jump up quickly.

“I have no idea why it's always men. I find it strange because I always offer my seat, and so do most people I know. Maybe chivalry is still alive and well?

She added: “I can only guess that women think a man should, although I hope I'm wrong. And I haven't noticed any women attempt to get up.

“It surprises me that no women have offered to get up. I wouldn't have thought that men or women would be more likely, it would just be a nice thing for anyone to do.

“All you ever really hear is bad things reported about men - mansplaining, spreading their legs on public transport etc, plus all the other things on the extreme end of the scale.

“I just thought it would be nice to put something positive out there. Although I must admit, I didn't really expect anyone to see it!”