Kindness: Strollers + Buses

It's actually one of the things I run into more often than
other things. Kindness things, that is. It's something that's necessitated by living in the city and relying on public transportation. It's one of the things I loathe to have to deal with, which is why I don't plan to have kids in the city.

Daily, I see women on the T, both buses and subways. These women, maybe mothers, maybe nannies, are wrestling with baby carriages - highly accessorized strollers, fancy prams, technically advanced push chairs. Some buses and T-cars are easier to negotiate than others. Their floors are only a small step up from the ground; some of the buses even 'kneel.' Then there are the other, older bus and T-cars, the ones that are high-up, that are tall. There are three or four steps you have to ascend in order to get to the seating. This is fine, if you're young, healthy, unencumbered. But if you are older, have a disability or have a bunch of bags, you're gonna have a challenge. That goes for ladies with strollers, too.

I can only imagine that their hearts drop slightly when an older bus pulls up to the bus stop. They know what they're in for. They're gonna have to tote the stroller up the stairs - the narrow, tall stairs. And I'm willing to bet that the stroller isn't the lightest thing in the world, especially with a kid, the giant diaper bag and everything else on board.

The other day, I caught the bus home after work. There was a large group of people waiting, including a mom with a carriage. One of the guys waiting in line tried to help her take it up the front steps, but they couldn't make it up the narrow pathway, so then they had to go to the back door. Later, when she got to her stop, the same guy jumped up to help her get off the bus, too. It was so nice of the guy to not just help the woman once, but twice. To take the initiative and help make her life easier.