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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To think my Dad was being totally reckless when he took DS upstairs in our local department store via the....

308 replies

DollyDaisy · 20/12/2011 22:46

escalator? DS is 8 months old and was in his pram at the time!

I was furious as thought Dad was following me to the store's lift. But apparently it was quicker to take the direct route and he just wedged the bugaboo onto the escalator and up they went.

Mum was horrified too.....but the DH couldn't see the problem either. Or are all men in my family just totally clueless?

OP posts:
FanjoForTheReindeerJumper · 21/12/2011 08:33

it isn't close to fuck all though. People on this thread have witnessed it occurring.

FanjoForTheReindeerJumper · 21/12/2011 08:35

but carry on being a rebel and ignoring those "elf and safety gorn mad" labels Hmm

PaintYouFestive · 21/12/2011 08:35

ARE YOU ALL FUCKING NUTS?
I would never do this!
USE THE LIFTS! You won't be shrugging when you drop your pram down them will you?

btw YANBU op

lockets · 21/12/2011 08:37

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Whatmeworry · 21/12/2011 08:39

Fanjo, if you would put your kids in a car but not on an escalator then all it proves is you have absolutely no idea of relative risk.

Whatmeworry · 21/12/2011 08:42

Actually, thinking about the behaviour of some mothers with buggies on escalators ( especially as they come off) I reckon the escalator advice is more to protect the fellow travellers.

SpagBollyandtheIvy · 21/12/2011 08:49

Round cut carrots? WHAT? Always thought batons were poster, but didn't realise circles were risky!!!

I don't take iton escalator. Got trolley stuck on end of travelator once (and these are supposed to be designed for the purpose). Trolley stopped, I didn't, got pushed into back of it hard. If it were a pram would've gone over with me on top of it.

But I do sympathise when the alternatives are rubbish. There are a number of shops here where the lift is out the back and staff-controlled so you have to find an assistant to take you up which can take ages. And people can be really inconsiderate re lifts. Only last week a man got in a small cramped lift with me and buggy with large rucksack on back. Pushed his way in when there wasn't enough room, whacking my huge PG belly into buggy handles. Then turned around and bashed side of my head with his enormous backpack. Saw him later on escalator, so not phobic or anything, but even if he was, incredibly rude.

FanjoForTheReindeerJumper · 21/12/2011 08:49

yes, because cars have warnings on them with a big cross through them showing not to put children in.

but carry on patronising me if you like...cos you are well 'ard.

Rhubarbgarden · 21/12/2011 08:52

I do find escalators and prams a little scary. I have a vivid imagination. Many people are terrified of flying. There is more chance of you being kicked to death by a donkey than dying in a plane crash. So I agree it's all about probability, and when I have to I will use escalators.

Whatmeworry · 21/12/2011 08:59

Spagbol, every year a few people globally get uncooked carrot rounds caught in their throats and choke.

Also, 100% of people who eat carrot rounds die, eventually :o

FanjoForTheReindeerJumper · 21/12/2011 09:06

several people on this thread have had accidents related to buggies on escalators or witnessed them..probably the same amount or more than have had car accidents...and certainly more than have choked on carrot rounds or witnessed it.

nizlopi · 21/12/2011 09:11

Loads of people do it, you're not REALLY supposed to, but its not the worst thing in the world really. You are overreacting a bit IMO, sorry.

TandB · 21/12/2011 09:13

Escalators are evil. The one in Boots the other day tried to EAT me.

I brushed the edge of it with my skirt and it somehow sucked my hem in and attached it to the comb-teeth like thing at the bottom where the steps disappear and I couldn't get it out. There was no emergency stop button so I had to stay attached to the escalator until a woman managed to rip my skirt to get me out. While someone else pursued my 2 year-old who had scented weakness and legged it.

And people kept coming down two abreast and tutting and saying pointed "Excuse mes"

Does it look like I can excuse you?!

namechangerbat · 21/12/2011 09:14

Ha.

The OP has made me laugh and laugh until I needed a wee.

Proper loons around at the moment. Christmas brings them all out im sure of it

SpagBollyandtheIvy · 21/12/2011 09:14

Ah, raw carrots, that explains it.

For me it is about minimising risks where you can, either the likelihood or the consequence. In a car, you use a carseat to reduce the consequence. If a lift is available, use that to minimise likelihood of an accident. I'm not risk averse, but i think it's obvious to not take a risk if it can be sensibly avoided.

PeneloPeePitstop · 21/12/2011 09:15

When I was a little kid

I know other people of the same age group as me that watched it who are also shit scared of feckin' escalators.

BertieBotts · 21/12/2011 09:21

Shock Am I seriously the only person who has NEVER heard of this?? Confused (Don't live in London though) - it wouldn't even cross my mind to think of doing it. I'd use the lift or take DS out and bump down the stairs (unless someone was around to help me carry it)

PPP don't modern escalators have guards to prevent that happening? They're like little brushes. My sister and I used to "shine" our shoes on them Blush

4madboys · 21/12/2011 09:22

i do this all the time, i also have a bugaboo Grin and i just go on backwards when going up and have the back wheels on the step of the escalator, i hold on tight to the pushchair and it has a wrist strap. on the way down the pushchair goes on the back wheels on the step infront of me. i always make sure its positioned welll in middle of the steps so away from the sides.

its about relative risk and taking the precautions you can, have 5 kids and been doing it for hte last 12yrs and its been fine. when i have visited london i have had to do it for some tube stops etc and in our shopping malls there arent that many lifts, two big glass ones which my 3 yr old is scared to go in and they are normally fullly occupied by teenagers who just seem to enjoy going up and down in them for fum Confused

ChristinedePizaTinsel · 21/12/2011 09:28

Why is dropping your buggy on an escalator more likely than on the stairs? I don't see how wheels get stuck either, when the gaps between the treads on modern escalators are less than 1cm wide

Reading this thread it seems that people in London (or who travel there regularly) accept that going on the escalator is part of life because it would have a hugely negative impact on your ability to get around if you didn't take your buggy on the escalator.

vixsatis · 21/12/2011 09:30

Never done it. Never would do it.

I was standing on the escalator (alone) once and some idiot switched it off. I went flying and ended up in hospital. I can't imagine how that would have been if I had had a buggy with me

PeneloPeePitstop · 21/12/2011 09:30

Dunno Bertie, but that advert, along with other 70s and 80s public safety films SCARRED me I tell ya! Wink

ShowOfHands · 21/12/2011 09:33

I very much like the fact that if you choose not to take a pushchair on an escalator then by default you are a namby pamby, cowering wimp. I don't do it because I don't feel safe. But then I have no socket covers or stairgates and allowed dd to chop veg at a v young age. Oh won't somebody please tell me under which generalisation I belong?

miSaltireandwine · 21/12/2011 09:34

I was witness to a fair few accidents on escaltore involving buggies/parms /toddlers when i worked in a shop. One woman and her 2 month old baby had to be taken to hospital after they sustained quite bad injuries.

Whatmeworry · 21/12/2011 09:35

Have been having a little google on risks of death from various causes....I suggest the fretful and fearful don't go there :o

aquafunf · 21/12/2011 09:38

i saw a mother take a mclaren style buggy up the escalator in marks and sparks in welwyn. some how it got stuck at the top. luckily i was at the top and hit the stop button, but not before the inevitable domino effect had started with people being hurt. there was a lift a few feet away.

i wont get on an escalator behind some idiot with a buggy.
YANBU