I was heading for an escalator yesterday, and just in front of me there was a small family that included a father who was manuevering a stroller onto the escalator, in spite of the nearby sign that clearly read "NO STROLLERS". I was a little irritated at this blatant disregard for safety, especially as there was also a set of elevators nearby - and a little more irritated to find I couldn't pass the family since the stroller didn't leave any room. The family continued down a second escalator, and I was once again unable to pass them... The mother and an older child, maybe three years old, were several steps ahead of the stroller, and the mother stepped off the escalator a few steps ahead of her daughter. She turned back just in time to see the little girl watch her own feet slide up the grill at the bottom of the stairs, rather than stepping over it and off the escalator. She immediately began shouting at the child: "Don't you ever do that again!" etc... a display which I assume derived from her concern for the child's safety. In the meantime, of course, the father and the infant in the stroller (resting at a precarious angle on two wheels) were just a few feet above them. It was with no small difficulty that I refrained from pointing out to the mother the hypocrisy of her shout to her daughter - both by example, and the fact that she didn't keep hold of the girl's hand while on the moving staircase so as to help her off at the bottom. I'm here to tell you: "Do as I say, not as I do" doesn't actually work. It also proves to the viewing public that you probably shouldn't have procreated in the first place. Sheesh.
