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Screaming babies on the T
By adamg on Thu, 07/03/2008 - 2:23pm
If it's morning rush hour and you're about to get on a trolley with your baby and he is screaming his head off, should you stop boarding and wait until he calms down? Martin wishes a woman on the B line this morning had done just that:
... Please, out of common courtesy to your fellow passengers, many of whom are still half-asleep or are trying to enjoy some last "quiet" time before they get to the office, have the decency to tend to your child - or better yet, wait until he/she has quieted down and then get on the train. Thanks. ...
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Comments
And leave the double-wide monster stroller at home too
Yesterday on the orange line it was a double-wide monster stroller with one kid and one backpack taking up the ENTIRE doorway at rush hour. Not enough brains or courtesy (collectively) to have the woman move into the train with the contraption, nor did she move out of the train to let people enter or exit at each station.
I don't want to sound old here (but I shall) my mother managed three of us, under age 3 on the subway in Boston without a monster stroller.
Then again, she didn't have an iPod or a 5 shot caramel latte in her hand.
Crying Babies
Martin,
It sounds like you're the big cry-baby on this train.
She has a baby, babys cry.
You have a blog, you bitch about how things upset your day.
Man, that's not the way things work, it's all a part of life.
Start living in it instead of reporting it.
and another thing...
What if the baby were Abbie?
You'd think it was soooo cute.
Hrm, it is Public transportation, right?
Unfortunately, that mother and (wailing) child most likely had to be somewhere just as quickly as everyone else. And, knowing full well how infrequent Green line trains come, the simple act of waiting around might have caused the child's freakout.
It doesn't matter, because it's public transportation. You all paid the same amount of money to ride a train.
It's ultimately a temporary disturbance, and to insinutate that one person is more deserving of his/her time on public transportation than another is just not a good way of thinking.
And I know that the author put his qualifiers of "mothers and other helpers..." so it didn't seem like he was blaming a mother for her screaming child; but I wonder if it had been a yuppie in a nice suit with a screaming child, would he have cut him more slack than a mother?
Yeah, because babies just need to be tended ...
To get them to stop crying.
Strollers
I agree with those who opine that yes, babies cry all the time, often to the point of annoyance. And that yes, they're babys [sic], and that's what babies do. It's not their fault, nor the fault of the parent(s).
But tensions run high on the subway to begin with; believe me, I would have been aggrevated within 30 seconds of this, not because of the screeching whine of the baby, but because riding the T is stressful, period. I'd actually take a crying baby over dozens of selfless morons either a) yelling (louder than a baby's cry) into their cellphones, or b) people who put their stuff on the seat next to them, rendering said seat unavailable for someone to sit there, and blocking people from the train. Often, these two go hand in hand. Believe me, I've witnessed this several times.
But I digress, and will go back to the topic of my subject heading:
I am in total agreement of the statement regarding monster strollers. They're like baby SUVs. I have no problem with the concept of strollers, but they've just gotten too out of control. Ever been in a hurry and find yourself on the sidewalk, or on the T, behind a double (or even triple...yeah, I've seen one) stroller, and not be able to get by?
Years ago, we've had Soccer Moms. Now we're breeding a new group, the Stroller Moms.
I'm counting the days until we see strollers with DVD players (with surround sound, of course).
Looks like the countdown is over
Watch 'N Stroll: Because a happy baby means a happy parent!
Oh, wait, you mean for the parent pushing the thing? There's a kit for that.
Jeepers...
Adam, your link just made me mentally vomit. :-)
I thought of the DVD player as a possibility, not an actuality.
As predicable as this is, it begs the question: shouldn't Watch 'N Stroll change their motto to "A happy baby means a parent who doesn't have to tend to their baby?"
Sheesh. I lose faith in civilization with every passing day.
AAAAAAHHHHHG
AAAAAAHHHHHGGGGGHHHHHAAAAHHHHHHGGGGG!!!!!!!
I've heard of baby bjorn ... but not BABY BORG!
I guess that's just great if you just don't want to be bothered by a fully city-entertained child saying LOOKIT TWUCK! LOOKIT BUHRD! LOOKIT CWANKY DA CWAIN! TWAINS TWAINS!!! Dose gwuys ... dere! On da bilding! LOOKIT Are dey washing da windows! Hi gwuys! Hi window gwuys! all the time ...
Heaven forbid a child give
Heaven forbid a child give in to natural inquisitiveness and take in their surroundings.
How long before little Skylar or Madison flings that thing onto the sidewalk during a tantrum? Where it might shatter into many pieces or accidentally hit someone walking by. And this means that all bystanders/train riders have no choice but to endure the Teletubbies DVD your kid is watching for the 47th time.
Compact is Expensive
Ironically, some of the big bulky strollers are much cheaper than the nice, compact ones.
However, I am talking about strollers that can safely hold an infant with poor head or body control. You can definitely get cheap, compact strollers for older kids.
On the other hand ...
If you need an enormous 30 lb device to carry a 10 lb human, something is a bit off.
Most of the strollers that I see on public transit are tiny and most of those are the cheap kind.
I think the few ill-advised people who take something much larger than a wheelchair on board need to be filled in on basic limits and courtesy. After all, they used to make people fold ALL strollers until very recently. A few jerks are going to wreck it for everyone.
I second the noise cancelling headphones for those who dislike babies crying. Or bike a couple times a week and route yourself through a nice quiet neighborhood or park and bring coffee and a muffin. I've done than many times and it is a most pleasant way to start the day.
screaming babies
Martin -
You obviously don't have children and don't understand that the T is "public" transportation. Do yourself and all of us a favor - buy a car so you can ride to work in peace and quiet and not inflict your crabbiness on everyon else.
Martin feels better - what about us?
Martin feels better for having vented his frustrations in writing but just look at all the aggravation he's caused on Universal Hub as a result.
For Martin I have
threefour words, Bose Noise-Reduction Headphones. Take control Martin. Get a grip. Train kept a rollin.it's possible they had to
it's possible they had to get to a doctor's appointment and couldn't wait for a later train.
as a new mom, it's hard for me to feel sympathy for the commuters' "quiet" time.
Motherhood is a Choice, Not an Entitlement.
Well New Mom, those of us having chosen not to further burden the Earth's resources do, too, have the right to be annoyed at your spawn's "right to expression." (taking into account natural fussiness, etc) We actually need to be in form at work in order to feed the economy which pays for your tax breaks and such.
Your child may be the center of your world, but it isn't ours. Deal with it.
Some call them sexist
Some call them sexist childfree trolls, others call them lobster bait.
Give me a freaking break
Wow, as a new(ish) father of a simply amazing little guy, I am well aware of the fact that sometimes a child is inconsolable and difficult, which is precisely why I only have one reaction to a crying child on the train. Sympathy. Poor little guy/girl is miserable, poor mother/caregiver is miserable as well. She/he may be putting on a brave face, and may seem to be ignoring the child, but it's a judgement call on their part, are these alligator tears? If I react will it feed into it? Chill out childless anond, and maybe have a child of your own, the joy they bring far outweighs the few times they are difficult.
Are we obliged to accomodate
Are we obliged to accomodate the product of your unprotected ejaculation, regardless of their behavior, then?
What a sense of ego you have, if so.
from one unprotected
from one unprotected ejaculation to another - why not?
"burden"??
I'm sorry, but anyone who thinks of a child as a "burden" on our resources is clearly so self-absorbed that they are the real "burden" on society.
Well, they're just not quite drawing the line in the right place
People creating more children does in fact create a burden on our planet's resources. Overpopulation is a serious problem. This isn't the same thing as viewing children themselves as a burden or viewing people who choose to raise them and take them to family-friendly events as selfish.
not quite true
Earth existed for millions upon millions of years before we arrived, and will exist for millions upon millions of years after we are gone. The only real burden on the earth is other planets and stars :-)
WTF is up with the baby
WTF is up with the baby haters anyway? I feel like crying any time I have to take the T too, for Christ's sake, how the hell can anyone expect a mature reaction out of a baby? And, the icing on the cake is admitting to being a baby hater in public, and with the modern wonders of Google, it's right there for any future employer, friends, spouses, business partners, etc to find (and even more easily now that the UniversalHub has featured it). May as well tattoo the scarlet letter "BH" for Baby Hater on your forehead.
That's a loud baby
...if you can hear her screaming over the sound of the trolley.
I appreciate that I can barely hear my little guy when I'm right next to him on the T. Well, except at stops, when the rumble no longer drowns him out. Then I feel like THAT PARENT.
I can't believe the audacity of some people
Wow... people really need to get a grip.
Disparraging a mom because her baby is crying on public transportation? Hey... public transportation is public... and its not like she made the baby cry to annoy you. You think she WANTS to hear that? She's probably more annoyed than you... because she hears the baby crying all the time. You just heard it on your T ride.
And holy self-righteousness Batman... having a baby is wasting the Earth's resources? Give me a break. So you recycle and bring your own bag to the Supermarket... bully for you. We hope your highness realizes that in the end, the Earth is going win. Humans are just temporary residents... just like every other animal out there. Relax.
And finally... if the baby crying is going make you too sleepy to be productive at work... maybe YOU need to re-evaluate how you live YOUR life. The Red Line is not a bed... its transportation. If you need an extra 20 minutes of sleep on the Red Line... try going to bed 20 minutes earlier. If you feel like your job is so vital to propping up our economy, then maybe you should be sure you're awake BEFORE you get on the train.
I can't believe the audacity of some people to blame a crying baby for an unproductive day at work. Those are the people who are always blaming someone else and taking zero personal responsibility. Look in the mirror and leave the baby alone.
Agreed
John hit the nail on the head.
Can you really tell yourself in the mirror that the reason you are failing in your go-nowhere job is because a baby crying took away your cat nap? Aren't we supposed to be grown-ups here?
B line?
Sorry, Martin, all bets are off on the B line. I don't care if you have a 400-lb excited gorilla, you get to take the first train that shows up. Always. When it's already going to take you 40+ minutes to get to *Kenmore*, waiting for the "next train" is not acceptable.
To be fair....
The blogger added that the mother in question "did nothing to quiet the kid down as we rode all the way down Comm Ave."
If he meant that the mother _ignored_ the baby's wailing as she read a paper or wrote text messages or the like, then he has a legitimate gripe. If he meant that the mother didn't succeed in soothing the baby, despite valiant attempts to do so -- then I would say the blogger is a schmuck.
As someone already noted, if the baby was truly un-calmable, it is possible that the reason the mother and baby were on the train in the first place was to get to a doctor....