On the subway, there is an announcement voice that plays every time a priority passenger over 65 years old passes through the turnstile.
It varies from greetings such as ″Thank you″ or ″I hope you are healthy,’ to 「The sound of a magpie」.
They say there is a flood of complaints from seniors expressing their discomfort. What is the reason?
″Beep beep. Stay healthy, old man.″
This is the sound made when passing through the ticket gate with a preferential transportation card for seniors over 65 years of age.
Seoul Transportation Corporation introduced it last June and planned to run it on a trial basis for about three months at 10 stations, including Gangnam Station and Gwanghwamun Station in Seoul, and then expand it to all subway stations.
The purpose is to prevent households taking care of elderly people from fraudulently using senior citizen priority cards by other family members, but during the pilot operation, it aroused strong opposition from the elderly.
They said there was a flood of complaints, ranging from protests asking, “Are you condescending to give me a free ride?” to responses like, “I feel like I’m being stigmatized because I’m old.”
It is said that the same situation was true for the Daegu subway, which introduced a similar guidance voice.
After deleting the word ‘elderly,’ the Seoul Transportation Corporation entered into a contest for another guidance voice.
Netizens also said, “I understand the purpose of preventing illegal riding,” but expressed regret, saying, “More careful consideration was needed to make the elderly feel less uncomfortable.”
2023-10-11 21:37:54
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