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Citizen complaint of the day: The sidewalks of the South End no place for double-wide urban assault strollers
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Comments
Needs note
That says it was very inconsiderate to park there.
They should park in the street
Why not? Oh, maybe because people get extra super irate about that, too. Even though there is more room there.
Just fill the damn thing with
Just fill the damn thing with garbage you pick up off the street and call it a day.
Its would have been quicker to walk around
than take a pic and write a complaint. GET OVER IT YUPPIE!
Ok, anon...
It's rude and inconsiderate behavior. It has nothing to do with "yuppie" status.
No one needs a stroller that big
Plenty of little ones survive in umbrella strollers.
Gee, life is truly tough in
Gee, life is truly tough in America. How do you people manage to survive dealing with such adversity? You actually have to walk around a stroller!!! I think Congress should take this crisis up immediately and find a solution to this injustice.
Flip side
Why does one person get to inconvenience everyone else who uses the sidewalk? Park it somewhere else not next to a tree. Park it inside the gate. Or get a stroller you can bring inside. They have double umbrella strollers.
One the one hand..., but on the other hand...
You are right...but, still, this is such a minor problem. Those sidewalks are disrupted enough, in their own right, that I often prefer the street if I am walking aroundthere.
(That said, why on earth would one leave a stroller outside, where it can be stolen -- they do have some market value, I presume).
people with physical challenges
It's a minor problem for people who are not disabled, unsteady on their feet or in a chair. For some to navigate off the sidewalk, around the tree and so forth just offers better opportunity to land flat on one's bum. and potentially in the path of cars.
True about the bricks, not a uniform surface. I have the same problem on my street when trying to navigate. Where I choose to walk depends on how busy the street is and/OR the way people in the area drive.
Solution # 1
Get rid of the tree - that's a bigger impediment to pedestrian mobility than the strollers are.
Yeah... or
maybe leave the tree there so it can continue to provide shade and oxygen and make the street more pleasant for its residents, and maybe the sidewalk-hog can instead just bring the damned thing inside, upgrade to a more sensibly-sized pram, and/or let the kidlets walk (dunno the age at which younguns generally start being bipedal, but with seats that size they 're likely getting there).
Agree about moving the stoller
However, even if the stroller weren't there, that sidewalk would still be a challenge for most folks due to the tree.
But I guess a minimal amount of shade and oxygen is more important to you than having infrastructure that is easily accessible to pedestrians trying to use it.
I agree; restore the sidewalk space for pedestrians...
...and to that end, it's still much easier and more sensible to remove the pram than the tree.
Better yet
Eliminate the parking, expand the sidewalk, and then have more space for trees, bike and stroller parking, and centralized garbage collection units.
Not for a peron with a
Not for a peron with a disability.
Look at the pic again
A wavy brick sidewalk without a stroller is not suitable for someone in a wheelchair. Think before you give people your 2 cents.
Thanks,
Disabilities go
Beyond just wheelchair users. Plenty of people with disabilities might negotiate this sidewalk, if it were clear.
The disability community
Can advocate for itself. We don't need you speaking up when it makes your point, but trying to shut down other true advocates when they aren't in your little townie club.
Anon, what makes you
think I don't have a disability?
Do you have a disability?
Do you have a disability?
I might.
Do you have a name?
Is there really a difference
Is there really a difference between Kathode (not verified) and anon (not verified)? Here, I have bestowed myself a nom de plume.
How can you tell which UHub
How can you tell which UHub commenters are disabled?
A person w/ adaptive equipment, walker, cane etc. may have been able to navigate the brick sidewalk, if there was no stroller there. A person in a scooter or power chair would most likely drive on the street. The area between the tree and fence isn't wide enough for most power chairs, not to mention the very uncomfortable bumpy ride.
The person who left the stroller there is an inconsiderate jerk regardless.
plenty
of people with disabilities who are not in wheelchairs. Myself included. Sidewalk are favored over roads depending on the area, traffic and how wildly people drive. I am unable to dart out of the way and to attempt to could easily land me in worse conditions.
And it's a problem for
persons with disabilities as well.
This one is simple
Either it's OK to use the public sidewalk to store private property (in which case, please let me know, and I will build a shed on the sidewalk in front of my house) or it's not, (in which case the city should come by and cut the chain and remove the stroller.)
BFD
Actually, I think it IS OK to use the sidewalk to temporarily store a bike or stroller while visiting someone. The choice of location here so that it blocks the sidewalk is rude and inconsiderate but posting it to citizens connect is just silly and childish. We encourage too much of this kind of reactive behavior which is more annoying than the initial "infraction." Just let it go!
What
Like a Bike?
Is there even room to walk
Is there even room to walk around? Look at the tree in the background. There's a car parked right on the other side of it. So move your fucking stroller, douchebag.
It's their planet...
We all just live on it.
Put it in the house where it
Put it in the house where it belongs !
No different
Than the Yuppies who leave their big blue recycle bins on the sidewalk 24/7.
Yuppies?
If you're going to stoop to name calling, at least get into the 21st century.
Word coinages don't usually come
...with an expiration date.
Think of how long 'buffoon' has been around or 'asshole'.
The overmuch protestation of the coinage tends to betray the urge to make the sticky appellation go away.
Maybe UHub can have a coinage contest for the word fashion conscious to give crass stuff status mongers something with a bit more zip?
How about "Santorum"...oh
How about "Santorum"...oh wait, that one's already taken.
Wait what about the garbage can requirements
There a number of threads Universal Hub asking why people in the city can't put their trash out in trash cans instead of plastic bags. Diversity of requirements on city dwelers.
Why doesn't someone spit into it? Or worse?
This is endemic around the South End. It probably belongs to the same yuppie South End trash who go darting across Waltham Street at the Butcher Shop without looking before crossing, yakking on her cell phone, using the stroller as some kind of battering ram. Problem is that someday some driver won't see them and there goes the stroller and its contents.
The thing these naïve Wellesley transplants don't realize is that there are plenty of people not like them in the South End. There are some pretty sketchy people (think heroin needles) walking around, and I wouldn't want to put my kid into anything left outside that long.
You are angry
You need counseling.
I moved out of the South End
I moved out of the South End (after having been there for 9 years) because I couldnt tolerate the new transplants.
They're everywhere
"This is endemic around the South End. It probably belongs to the same yuppie South End trash who go darting across Waltham Street at the Butcher Shop without looking before crossing, yakking on her cell phone, using the stroller as some kind of battering ram."
I see those cell phone yakking mothers pushing strollers everywhere, not just the South End. They're on the street, they're on buses, they're in stores...and they are absolutely oblivious to the world.
Especially when you consider
That the porta-potty is otherwise occupied.
Aren't they worried
about inclement weather? Or intoxicated passerby? Or people who think these would be great receptacles for litter? They are obviously expecting the general public to be more considerate than they are.
Yummy crackers!
Kids leave all sorts of food debris in their strollers ... goldfish, fruit bits, etc. Even if they don't eat in them, it still somehow ends up in them (like, stuck to their clothing).
Raccoons and rats thank them for it, if strollers are left outside.
I'm betting that this may have been a temporary issue - I rarely see strollers that huge in the city except around the Children's Museum, where they tend not to fit through the doors anyway. This is a mall and path stroller if there ever was one.
Actually see strollers like
Actually see strollers like that all the time in South End and Back Bay. Think areas of the city where it is practical to do all your errands within a few blocks. At certain times of day the cafes of the SE are crammed with these things.You can take baby along and GET OUT OF THE HOUSE without losing your sanity to car seats and parking. But seriously, just because you've spawned, doesn't mean you get to make life more difficult for everyone else.
If they were visiting, there would be other adults to help bring the behemoth inside.
Maybe the TLF could colonize these as mobile command units.
Spawned
I really really dislike it when people use this word in refernce to human children. It shows a high degree of contempt (if used deliberately) and a high degree of uncaring thoughtlessness (if used unthinkingly).
I really really dislike it
I really really dislike it when people who have human children think having human children gives them a blank check to impose upon others. It shows a high degree of contempt (if done deliberately) and a high degree of uncaring thoughtlessness (if done unthinkingly).
It comes from the childfree community, AFAIK
The term is popular on childfree communities, in which people unite to fight assumptions and discrimination against people who choose not to raise children. You're right that some of these folks are basically against children existing and will say derogatory things about people's children, which I also find distasteful. As I understand it though, the word "spawn" isn't usually used to be disrespectful to the children specifically, but more is used to denote entitled parents who think that creating children gives them extensive special rights and privileges. The childfree folks use "spawned" as shorthand for "oh, great, you're already entitled and self-centered, and now there are more of you." It seems like it's usually said with empathy for the children who didn't ask to be plunked into a family where the parents are tantrumming over the kid's supposed need to be catered to in public. Most of the childfree folks are actually respectful of others' choices and are just asking for the same in return, after having endured being called selfish, barren, childless, spinster, bachelor, etc. by people who value people with children over people without. I am friends with several who are quite respectful of my kids and love spending time with other people's children.
I have a number of married friends....
... without children -- and none of them use "spawn".
Your friends are probably not
Your friends are probably not so insecure about their childfree status that they need to join a dedicated community to support them and reassure them.
BTW ....
I have never seen (or heard) "spawn" used in a way that suggested anything but loathing for children.
one data point does not a set make
In my circle, we've been using spawn to describe children affectionately since the 80's. But I'm a giant nerd with many bio-nerd friends, so one's mileage varies.
I refer to my own kid as our spawn. She's also a monkey and a pudding pop.
A whole different world
I can't imagine using any of those terms to refer to my children (back when they were young) or anybody's children.
Endearing isn't it?!?
Endearing isn't it?!? I picture children w/ horns for some reason.
Makes it sound....
... like one considers them sort of toy.
Pretty arbitrary standard you've got there, bub
So because of your lack of imagination you get to judge the words other people use to describe children (including their own)?
The amazing thing about the English language is it's ability to expand and change and for words to have different connotations in different contexts. A certain flexibility of thinking allows you to take full advantage of it. Try considering that people have different life experiences and opinions than you and that difference does not automatically equal wrong.
My kids had lots of names
Spunks, malespawn, sprogs ...
They are collectively known now as the adolescents or the offspring. Individually they are Manboy and Boyman.
I have a strong suspicion that this is a Gen-X parenting snark offending baby boomer child worship.
But that used to be my minivan with the BREEDR license plate ...
You might want to listen to your own advice
I didn't suggest people should be shunned for using terms I dislike, I just indicated that I don't like those terms. Perhaps, only smart young people like you have a right to set standards and express opinions?
In any event, I tend to loathe snarkiness -- or am I not allowed to say that?
And you know what I also dislike, people I don't know calling me "bub" (or "("buddy" or any variation thereof). I guess it is easy to be disrespectful of others when you are anonymous (or pseudonymous). That's why I use my real name in posting -- to remind me to take responsibility for what I write.
Fair enough
I won't call you Honey either then, Mr. Kerpan.
I have to tell you it's adorable that you assume I'm young. But then again, that's a relative term as well.
I am _sure_
... you are a "young person" compared to me.
Terms you dislike
I was trying to point out that the specific term you dislike may have different meanings for different groups of people. I am suggesting you consider broadening your reference set when different uses are brought to your attention.
This is in fact something I do deliberately with my daughter when she uses language that can be perfectly acceptable but has another context for some listeners. So I explain what that phrase or word means and how to express her thought so her point gets across without the murkiness of the unintended meaning.
The first one I remember was around six or so when she and a friend were singing about camel toe. I explained it in age appropriate language and they moved on to a new (annoying repetitive) song about something else entirely.
Lesser nerd
Kelly is clearly a lesser nerd, not a giant nerd.
A giant nerd would say "datum."
<bows>
My speech varies depending on my audience. I figured I was being irritating enough already.
So I'll just go for nerd, full stop. I don't have a taxonomy for varying levels of nerdliness although I would classify myself as a "geek" on the nerd graph (why yes, I did google nerd taxonomy).
At least I didn't tell Mr. Kerpan that we referred to our spawn as a "larval unit" when she was a newborn. (help me out, was that from the Coneheads?)
Coneheads
The mother and father were "parental units" -- but I don't think the children were called "larval units"
Commonalities
See, we both remember that skit. But I must have picked up the larval part from the bio-nerd part of my herd.
This is great!
I see similarities between this and the dreaded space savers of South Boston fame. I guess it's OK because it's the South End.
Nothing like starting the day with a smirk and a chuckle. Thank you!
In Old Boston..
... this thing would have been bashed into a pile of broken junk.
And it doesn't look like it would take much more effort than was applied to the locker blocker stunt.
Hot topic here, the old South
Hot topic here, the old South End ,of muscatel and port ( domestic, recent vintage aged one week ) , that thing would have been pissed on , beaten to a pulp , and then shagged off to the scrappie for more wine dough. How things have changed.....
Prediction: in 2 weeks this
Prediction: in 2 weeks this will be marked as "All clear, case noted"
Close:
Close:
"Closed. Case Noted. Officer cherry found no violation on 4-22-14"
Clearly the problem solely
Clearly the problem solely lies with nonresident strollers. The city should spend a lot of money on stroller parking facilities, and provide them free of charge to residents only.
Well this comment section
Well this comment section almost has it all.