« Two Must-Reads from the Sports World and an Excellent Chicken Recipe! | Main | Happy Father's Day to a Little Old Man in Kentucky »
June 17, 2005
Friendly Advice for Tourists
Here's a friendly piece of advice for people who push their children around in strollers. When navigating the D.C. Metro system with your child, if the stroller's width happens to exceed the size of the space between fare gates, the proper course of action is to venture about ten feet to the "special" fare gate. The special fare gate is much wider than the standard ones because it was designed for disabled people as well as those who need extra space (e.g. those pushing wide strollers). The IMPROPER course of action is to just keep ramming the stroller into the fare gate, hoping that somehow the stroller will eventually fit through the narrow space. I witnessed this firsthand moments ago as I exited the Metro at Woodley Park (doors opening on the left). Some brilliant mom who was pushing a stroller that was designed for two just kept ramming the stroller into the fare gate, seemingly assuming that she'd eventually make it. The result? Well, obviously the stroller didn't get through (it's called physics) and her son who was sitting shotgun ended up crying profusely, undoubtedly wondering why his caretaker kept ramming him into some unmoveable object. This is the type of parent who probably would send her children to Michael Jackson's pad for the weekend and be surprised if anything unsavory took place. Naturally, I wanted to turn to the woman and say, "Excuse me, you apparently are a complete idiot and need some assistance. May I help you?" However, I decided that I wasn't in the mood to interact with strangers today.
Comments
UMMMMMMM, AHHHHHHHH, GULLLL, are you feeling ok. AHHHHHH, OHHHHHH, since when do you not feel up to talking to complete strangers. EHHHHHHH, that's your trademark, ULLLLL. That would be like me not going MMMMMMMMM, ELLLLLLLL.
Posted by: Ken Porter at June 17, 2005 06:57 PM
I was behind some tourists on the escalator earlier this week. They were standing side to side, blocking anyone from walking past. One of them realized this about half-way down and told the other. They then both stood on the LEFT. I was amused. I've never seen people stand on the left.
Posted by: Marshall at June 17, 2005 07:51 PM
The "let's block the escalator so nobody can get by us" is VERY annoying when you're in a hurry. There should be tourist training school that all tourists must attend before visiting D.C.
Rule #1: Stand to the right on escalators allowing those who want to pass to do so on the left.
Rule #2: Review Rule #1.
Posted by: Fool at June 17, 2005 10:41 PM
I would have said something to the lady ramming her kid into the turnstile... Not sure what though...
Posted by: Finished.Law.School at November 8, 2005 03:23 PM
