Background:
I'm from India. In our railways, we have multiple ways of booking tickets, one of them being the regular way (stand in the queue) and the other, a card which lets you get your ticket printed on a separate machine. You can recharge a fixed amount on the card as required.
Situation:
I use the said card and frequently get requests from people (strangers) to book their tickets (of course they'll pay me) so that they can avoid the usually long queue. I personally want to politely decline due to:
- This said card is very easy to get
- I wouldn't ask someone myself if I were in their position. I would wait in the queue.
- Due to this problem, there are even railway employees who sit at these machines, offering to print tickets. This is another alternative and while there's still a queue, they can go there.
I do make exceptions: if the person looks like they're especially in a hurry/seem desperate/disabled/senior citizen whatever... I do book it.
So far, I've taken the easy way out by saying "I'm in a hurry.", a white lie: which may be an etiquette issue? Besides that, have also felt I need to justify my, perhaps unexplained and possibly rude, refusal.
So I thought of something along the lines of explaining point 1. Adding how unfair it would be to the others standing in the line if I "favoured" this person by booking (Point 3). But I'm afraid that might lead to the person becoming more defensive.
Question:
Is it good etiquette to state my rationale while declining such requests? Either case, how to refuse in such scenarios in as polite a way as possible?
I don't mind if someone ignores cultural context here since general etiquette will help all, including me. But please mention it if you do so!