Some People's Parents...

I should not have started this blog on a Friday. I don't ride much on the weekends. I took Monday off from work, and this morning's ride was uneventful (as mornings often are). I did use the park-and-ride to get to the State Fair on Sunday, but that was also routine - nothing really to write about.

However, I do owe my new, faithful readers a story, so I'll tell one that happened a while back.

I was riding the number 10 bus into Northeast Minneapolis. It was the afternoon, and the bus was starting to get crowded. This by itself is not out of the ordinary - nor is it unusual to find kids riding the bus with their parents. On this bus was a crabby kid with a crabby father. The kid was around 4 years old, if I had to guess - somewhere in between toddler and kindergarten, based on his size. The kid was sitting on the floor of the bus, near the front. The father lifts the kid up by his arm and throws him into a seat to get the kid out of the way of people getting on and off the bus. Immediately, the kid starts wailing. When the father lets go, the kid slides off the seat and returns to the floor - laying down in the middle of the aisle on a busy bus. It's getting to the point where there are few seats left, and people are standing as they ride. As more people get on the bus, the father doesn't try to get the kid back into a seat. Instead, he angrily shouts, "Don't step on my kid!" to anyone who tried to get by.

Yes, sometimes kids are crabby. Sure, they don't always want to do what you say. But, for Pete's sake, don't let them lay in the middle of the aisle on a rush hour bus. Take your kid off the bus, let him get over his tantrum, then take the next #10 that comes along. You never know when someone is going to stumble and accidentally step on your kid. We're not used to there being anyone down there.