Human gridlock: A father's view
Guest Dad Joe Burris is here on Father's Day Friday with a tale of a bumpy ride -- or, rather, a bumpy stop -- at New York's Penn Station:
The way I see it, the famous African proverb about childrearing needs a bit of tweaking.
It does take a village to raise a child, provided that you screen the villagers in advance for civility.
Some traveling through New York’s Penn Station during a recent Sunday might not have made the grade.
I was riding an Amtrak train then as it made its scheduled stop at Penn Station en route to Washington.
Now, the Penn Station stop lasts about 30 minutes; there’s no need to make haste in disembarking or boarding.
But you never would have known that by the scores of passengers rushing to board the train while others were still trying to get off.
Gridlock ensued at the exit doors and in the aisles. Among those stuck in the logjam: a mother carrying a small child.
“Can I get by?” the woman said as she struggled to inch her way to the door. The folks getting on ignored her query...
So she asked again, but the next time more emphatically.
“Can I get by? I’ve got a toddler here, as you can see!”
That prompted a woman boarding the train to -- get this -- lose her temper...
“You move! You’re in our way!” she fired back.
That prompted a shouting match between the two, and (probably not by accident) a pathway cleared. The two women kept bickering even after the one with the toddler had left the train.
My older daughter, who was riding with me, had gotten up for a snack and missed the whole thing, for which I am grateful.
Perhaps I’m being a bit naïve to assume that these grown-ups would consider the child present and simply step aside. Or that there’s no need to bring weekday rush-hour tension and hostility into a Sunday evening.
I’m ever reminded of how when teens misbehave in public, and stir the fears and anxieties of adults, they prompt city officials to impose a curfew.
When adults in the village act like idiots, what do they get?
Comments
It always amazes me that some people just attempt to rush right on a train or a bus when the doors open. You can't get on until people get off, especially if there is only one door open. Most people get it, but there are the few who can only think of themselves and fail to see the big picture. Unfortunately they are teaching our children it is ok to be selfish and greedy.
Posted by: Mark Schwinn | April 23, 2010 10:53 AM
(sigh...) I wish I were shocked to hear this.
Doesn't common sense dictate that allowing people to exit the train/elevator/store/restaurant/FillInTheBlank would create more space into which one might enter?
Posted by: Eve | April 26, 2010 12:39 PM