Mother of deaf child reduced to tears after elderly man berates her for using priority seat on subway

An account of a hearing-impaired child and her mother being verbally abused on the subway for using a priority seat has gone viral, drawing widespread anger online.

A post titled "A dispute on the subway on Monday" appeared on the social media platform Threads on Monday.

The author, identified only as A, wrote that a child who appeared to be in the upper grades of elementary school was sitting in a priority seat while the mother stood nearby.

"An elderly man sitting in the priority seat across from them got angry and said, 'Why are you letting a grown kid sit there?'" A wrote. "The mother said she had her reasons, but the man kept at it."

The mother ultimately told the man that her child had a hearing disability and that the seat was designated for people who need extra consideration. The man shot back, "What's there to be proud of about having a disability?"

A wrote that the man eventually moved to another car after the argument, while the mother was left in tears. "It was so upsetting to watch," A added, noting that the mother continued to explain her child's condition to other passengers who came to the priority seating area afterward.

A went on to say that being elderly should not be treated as a privilege and called for the name of the priority seat to be changed. "As a mother raising children, I was so angry and heartbroken. It feels like consideration for others is slowly disappearing," A wrote.

Online users reacted with a range of comments. "It's called a mobility-impaired seat, not an elderly seat — it's been renamed for ages and people still think it belongs to the old," one user wrote. Others said, "Being old doesn't make someone a grown-up," and recalled similar incidents, including one in which a grandmother grabbed a child in a cast by the clothes and pulled the child to its feet. Some called simply for greater mutual consideration.

Under current law, South Korea's Act on Promotion of the Transportation Convenience of Mobility Disadvantaged Persons defines those eligible for priority seating to include people with disabilities, the elderly, pregnant women, those traveling with infants and young children, and children — broadly, anyone who experiences difficulty moving in daily life.