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Wide Load...



I entered the crowded coffee chain at 10AM, to discover that it wasn’t really that crowded, just jammed up by 2 people, each with doublewide strollers. This husband and wife team had managed to put a complete stop to traffic flow. The store was smallish, and had a couple of displays that were taking up valuable real estate (though not as much as these Peterbuilt Prams). As people shuffled in, and tried to move into the line, the prams held their ground.

Do these people have any concept of what they’re doing? Can’t you park those damn things at a meter and have one of you go in? Oh, wait. Neither of you knows what you want even though you both see this menu every day of your work week. So if you could fuck with everybody’s life, while adding 15 minutes to my coffee buying experience, that’d be great.

While you may think it’s quaint to have a stroller the size of your husband’s H3, nobody else does. That Baby doll tee from Abercrombie and Fitch doesn’t give you a pass, either. I don’t care how MILF you may think you are; you’re standing in the way of my coffee. So take off those shades, hang up the phone, turn off the iPod, make up your FUCKING mind, and get that progeny-riddled monstrosity out of the store!! MY LIFE IS LEAVING ME!!!

These goddamn strollers take up the ENTIRE width of the sidewalk, but then to bring them into a store?

“Excuse us...Excuse us.” over and over again in that condescending overly polite way stroller driving Mothers have around here. Clipping ankles and running into people as they muscle their way through, never stopping.

Maybe this an example of “I’m on vacation, so the rules of polite society don’t apply to me.”

Sir, I can see that you have your vacation pants on as well as your vacation sandals, and your very brave vacation hat. That’s great. I’m happy for you. None of this exempts you from the ire of people who aren’t on vacation, however.

Try this exercise: for 10 minutes a day try to think of someone OTHER than yourself...


now try harder...


The woman’s mega stroller is 6-point turned into a hallway, completely blocking access to the other room as well as the pastry case, while the other super mega stroller continues to block access to the line and wonders what he’ll order.

I move around him into the line, with a sigh. The barista asks me what I want, and I manage to suppress the urge to say “a tire boot for the SUV behind me.

I understand the need to air out the little people with a wistful slow walk through the narrow streets of Old Town, but a little consideration, if you please. For example, there is no need for your mate to walk abreast of the stroller. You don’t move fast enough for the locals, so just like on the escalators: stay to the right, so we can pass you...hell, stay to the left for all I care, but taking up the entire width of the walk is unacceptable.

This may come as a shock to you, but not everyone in Old Town is on vacation. IT’S NOT ALL ABOUT YOU.

So, I get my muffin and latte, turn around and nearly topple onto this fucking pram, as this idiot has all but pulled up to the back of my ankles, blocking me in. I stop, look down at the stroller and look up to him square in the eyes.

“Hey man, you need a CDL to drive this thing?” This guy doesn’t have the space to turn around or even move to one side and just stands there with a vacant expression on his face.

One frustrated sigh and eye roll later (a look reserved just for the tourists) I step over the front corner of the pram and stalk out muttering something about inconsiderate yuppie bastard tourists.

Comments

Anonymous said…
This is actually a major issue in Chicago. Not only the attitude of sense-of-entitlement parents who think that since they're pushing a stroller, everyone needs to get out of their way on the sidewalk, and they can block any doorway/thruway they like, but the fact that they let their screaming kids run wild and then get mad at others for telling them to rein it in. Check it: http://travel2.nytimes.com/2005/11/09/national/09bakery.html?ex=1150862400&en=e6d177e9de2f7d31&ei=5070

Note to all parents: the fact that you can reproduce, like any organism, doesn't give you the right to treat others as if we're somehow inferior because we choose NOT to reproduce. So take that stroller and get it the hell out of our way. ;)
Anonymous said…
Oh, and I thought you might appreciate this from Overheard in Chicago (http://overheardinchicago.blogspot.com/):

(Little boy continuously walks up to table and takes forks and spoons from patrons)

Irritated Guest: "I'm sorry. Could you PLEASE tell your son to stop going to other tables and sit down!"

Great Parent: "Listen, buddy. My kid can express himself however he wants and you aren't going to tell me what to do."

Irritated Guest: "Fine. But when I turn all the knives at the table around and put them within his reach, I don't want to hear complaints."

- Pizzeria Uno's Schaumburg
merseydotes said…
You're one of us now! I *hate* tourists. And I hate big strollers. Sometime, remind me to show you the one we bought for Petunia. It is petite to the core, yet has all the features of a full-sized stroller. Our goal was that it had to fit in the coat closet of a Del Ray townhouse, which - if you saw our old house, you would know - is no easy feat.