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Mom-to-be Dylan heads to NYC subway to see if riders will give up their seats

After pregnant actress Olivia Wilde shamed fellow riders for not giving up their seats, TODAY's Dylan Dreyer, who is expecting in December, put subway chivalry to the test.
/ Source: TODAY

One day after pregnant actress Olivia Wilde shamed subway passengers for failing to give up a seat for her, TODAY's Dylan Dreyer set out to see if chivalry is truly dead.

Dylan, who is pregnant with a baby boy due in December, went to the subways of New York with TODAY's Keir Simmons to see if strangers would do the right thing and let her sit.

Take a bow, New York. You are not filled with terrible people.

Chatter about the topic began Wednesday after Wilde, who is also pregnant (or a "GIANT preggo," as she put it), tweeted in frustration that no one gave up their seat for her during a recent train ride.

"I'll just stand riiiiight next to your head and pray I go into labor," the actress wrote.

The responses to Wilde's tweet ranged from, "Women want to be treated like men. Here you go," to "Stand over their shoes and hope your water breaks."

RELATED: Oh, baby: Subway riders refuse to offer pregnant Olivia Wilde a seat

That inspired Dylan to put subway chivalry to the test, which thankfully ended up with better results.

On her first ride, it took five minutes for someone to offer a seat, but a gentleman gave one up.

"Ah, thank you so much,'' Dylan said.

On the second ride, it was only a matter of seconds before another man gave up his spot to her.

"You have perfect manners," Keir said. "You're a good man."

Next up, the pair wanted to see whether anyone would help her carry her luggage up the subway stairs. Ten people went by before a gentleman offered to help.

"That was so nice of you thank you!" Dylan told the man. "He was so nice, he was like, 'I don't want you to have to carry an extra bundle.' How sweet!"

"I think it's really up to all of us to be more mindful of everyone we encounter during the day, but certainly if it's a pregnant woman or needs some help,'' etiquette expert Thomas Farley, also known as Mister Manners. "Snap to attention and help them out. Be considerate."

"People will often hold it inside and get angrier and angrier by what they see as someone's inconsiderate nature when in fact the person really doesn't know,'' Farley added.

Finally, the pair decided to push the limits of chivalry in the Big Apple.

"That's the ultimate test, isn't it?" Keir said. "Can you get a New Yorker to give up their cab for you? One after one they did."

Follow TODAY.com writer Scott Stump on Twitter.