Graham Carter - the voice of age and experience

WE KNEW spending last weekend in London would be tiring, but we hadn’t banked on just how much it was going to age us.

We thoroughly enjoyed the break, but came home feeling that we were, officially, an old couple.

That’s because - for the first time in my life - I was offered a seat by somebody on the Tube.

It was just as we were arriving at Baker Street.

The person sitting in the seat on the end of the row - the one designated as a ‘priority’ seat - got up to get off the train.

My wife and I looked at each other and then at a young woman standing nearby, and for a moment it looked as if there was going to be one of those awkward moments where nobody really knew who was entitled to the free seat.

But the lady had made up her mind and was already heading for the seat, and was about to sit down when she had second thoughts.

She looked at my wife and then at me and my grey hair, and offered it to us instead.

If it had been any other seat in the carriage it wouldn’t have mattered.

According to the law of the Underground, all seats are up for grabs, apart from the one on the end of the row, which is reserved for people who might need it more than you.

The sign says it should be offered to those who are pregnant, disabled or “less able to stand” and, although there is actually no mention of age, anybody who has ever ridden on public transport would recognise it as the seat you would give up to an old lady or an old man.

Giving it up for someone who is pregnant or disabled is an easy decision for anybody who isn’t terminally selfish.

But deciding whether to give it away on the grounds of age is a complex conundrum.

It’s not just a case of deciding that the person you are offering it to is older than yourself, so that giving it to them would be out of respect for your elders.

No, the question is whether the person is so old that they would benefit from a proper sit-down so they can take the weight off their ancient feet.

As it turned out, we were getting off very soon, so we actually declined the lady’s kind offer.

And as soon as we were out of earshot we tried to find some consolation or excuse for what had just happened.

Seconds before the offer I had jokingly made a reference to my wife about my bad back, so that may have been the reason for the lady’s kindness, but we doubt she heard the remark.

And it’s not as if she was a teenager or even in her early 20s.

People of that age think anybody who has passed their 20s is old, but the lady in question was in her 30s.

I could only point out something I had noticed during the weekend - that old people don’t seem to travel on the Tube any more.

Looking around the crowded carriages, it was often difficult to spot people who were older than ourselves, so we were, by comparison, old.

The only other straw we have been clutching at is it could have been worse.

My brother, who is nine years older than me, was recently referred to by a friendly stranger as ‘Pop’.

He was so shocked to hear himself called it, he said, that he needed a good sit-down to get over it.

If only I had been there to offer the poor old chap my seat.