Sitting For England

(My family and I are taking a ferry between two islands in Venice. It is now late afternoon, and we have been on our feet non-stop since eight this morning. We manage to get seats on the ferry, which ends up pretty crowded with several people standing. I notice a middle-aged group standing near us, and I have just decided to offer my seat to one of them after I’ve rested for a few more minutes, when one of them bends down and leans in front of me and my little sister to talk to the person sitting next to her.)

Woman: *loudly* “You know, if we were in England, I’m sure someone would have given up their seat by now.”

(I then decided that my butt and that seat were best friends and could not possibly be parted, and they enjoyed a close, personal relationship for the rest of that ferry ride.)