OPINION: Senior citizen priority is a privilege that should be used with grace

Our elderly deserve priority, but having the right to go first does not mean everyone else should be treated without courtesy.

Priority lanes are one of those small things that can make life considerably easier for people who need a little extra consideration. An elderly person who cannot comfortably stand for a long time, for instance, should not have to endure the same wait as everyone else simply to get through an ordinary transaction. The same consideration can be important for a pregnant woman trying to avoid a lengthy wait.

That is why giving certain people priority makes sense. It is a practical accommodation, and more importantly, it is a simple way of acknowledging that not everyone experiences the same inconvenience in the same way.

I am not against senior citizens cutting the line. Quite the opposite. I like the fact that seniors are given this privilege, especially because I have senior citizen parents myself and would want other people to extend the same consideration to them. If an older person needs to get ahead in a queue, I would gladly give way, as I suspect many Filipinos would.

But there is a point at which a privilege can be stretched beyond its purpose, and that is where courtesy seems to get lost.

Being entitled to priority does not necessarily mean you have to demand it every time you can. And even when you do need to exercise that right, there is something to be said for how you ask for it.

A simple “Anak, puwede ba akong mauna? Senior na kasi ako” can go a long way. Most Filipinos would probably step aside without much fuss. There is a world of difference between politely asking someone to give way and barking an order as though everyone else in the queue has suddenly become an inconvenience.

Sometimes the person ahead of you is already being served. Sometimes you have family members who can wait with you. Sometimes, quite simply, you can afford to wait a little longer without causing yourself any real difficulty. And sometimes, yes, you genuinely need to go ahead because standing there is difficult for you.

In all of those situations, a little grace costs nothing.

A recent discussion online brought this tension into focus after an eight-month pregnant woman shared that she was waiting in a Watsons priority lane when another senior citizen asked to go ahead because she was a senior. Other people then shared similar experiences, including one in which a senior appeared to be used by companions to get through a queue more quickly.

We cannot know everything that happened in those individual situations, but the reactions point to a conversation worth having about the way we understand priority.

The point of a priority lane is not to determine who is more important. It is to make everyday transactions easier for people who may need more consideration than the average customer. Once that privilege becomes something people invoke simply because they can, the purpose behind the accommodation can easily get lost.

This should not turn into a contest between senior citizens and pregnant women, or between people who have different reasons for needing priority. No one needs to prove that their situation is more deserving than someone else’s.

What we can ask, however, is whether having a legitimate privilege also calls for a little more thought about how we use it.

Filipinos rightly place a high value on respecting our elders, but respect should not mean automatic deference in every situation. An older person deserves consideration, just as a pregnant woman deserves to be treated with basic courtesy. The same goes for a person with a disability who may need priority for reasons that are not immediately visible.

Being a senior citizen may give you the right to go first. It does not make everyone else less deserving of consideration.

Perhaps that is the part worth remembering. Having priority is a privilege meant to help when you need it, not a license to inconvenience others simply because you can. If people are already willing to give way, there is little reason to make them feel as though they have been ordered to do so.

Growing older comes with certain privileges. It should also come with the wisdom to know when to use them, and the grace to ask for them.

That’s the point.

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