C'mon, lady, REALLY?
I saw this a block from my house this morning, while driving into work:
A woman on roller blades was coasting fairly quickly down a sloping side street, and came around the corner onto the busy main street. She was pushing a stroller, in which her 1-year-old was standing up on the seat and unsteadily hanging onto the collapsed canopy rim. A car was approaching on that main street, and the woman was busy staring at her f*%!ing phone while all this was going on!!!
/o\
My face kind of froze in an O position watching all of this. Really, lady? REALLY?
Things happen! Your stroller might hit a bump, knocking your toddler out. YOU might hit a bump and yank on the stroller, knocking your toddler out. Your toddler might just fall out because she let go or lost her balance.
Or, heaven forbid, a car might swerve toward you or you might not turn that corner as tightly as you planned.
The result of all of these situations would be bad at best and devastating at worst. And you wouldn't even see it coming, because you were paying more attention to your phone than your child. :( :(
Plus, you know what? There are lap belts in strollers (and harness belts in jogging strollers) for a reason. Babies and small children are not smart about their own safety. That's YOUR job!
Ugh. I realize that I'm more cautious than many parents, and perhaps unusually gifted at visualizing potential negative side-effects of a given situation (regardless of the ages of those involved). But COME ON.
I'm not asking you to bubble-wrap your child, or make her timid and fearful. I just want you to understand her developmental limitations, and repect the basic laws of physics!
*shudders*
A woman on roller blades was coasting fairly quickly down a sloping side street, and came around the corner onto the busy main street. She was pushing a stroller, in which her 1-year-old was standing up on the seat and unsteadily hanging onto the collapsed canopy rim. A car was approaching on that main street, and the woman was busy staring at her f*%!ing phone while all this was going on!!!
/o\
My face kind of froze in an O position watching all of this. Really, lady? REALLY?
Things happen! Your stroller might hit a bump, knocking your toddler out. YOU might hit a bump and yank on the stroller, knocking your toddler out. Your toddler might just fall out because she let go or lost her balance.
Or, heaven forbid, a car might swerve toward you or you might not turn that corner as tightly as you planned.
The result of all of these situations would be bad at best and devastating at worst. And you wouldn't even see it coming, because you were paying more attention to your phone than your child. :( :(
Plus, you know what? There are lap belts in strollers (and harness belts in jogging strollers) for a reason. Babies and small children are not smart about their own safety. That's YOUR job!
Ugh. I realize that I'm more cautious than many parents, and perhaps unusually gifted at visualizing potential negative side-effects of a given situation (regardless of the ages of those involved). But COME ON.
I'm not asking you to bubble-wrap your child, or make her timid and fearful. I just want you to understand her developmental limitations, and repect the basic laws of physics!
*shudders*