If you're pushing a pram/buggy...

[spillyo]

...would it kill you to give the slightest acknowledgment to people who open doors for you/let you go first on the bus/step into the gutter as you walk two abreast down the pavement?

No need for a gushing thank you, but a nod, 'cheers', quick smile or even basic eye contact would be alright. Rather than sailing past with your nose in the air.

(Brand-new parents get a pass because you must be bloody shell-shocked but the usual offenders clearly aren't at that stage.)

Nah sorry. It would be nice for a thank you but you're not owed one. Don't do nice things for the thanks. They might be having a shit day. What do you mean their nose is in the air? Do you smell?

So now we're back to "smile love" thought we'd moved past that

Well, my other option is to try to walk straight into an incoming pram(s). But this isn't The Matrix.

There you go then. You move out the way for you as much as for them.

@Glazzy this is me 🤣 I saw that last week and thought yep I do that 🤣

This is my experience too, I'm in my 6th year of consecutive pram pushing too so lots of recent experience! I always thank people who are polite and let me go past or whatever. There are so many very inconsiderate people around though.

My DD and SIL moved out of London to a small town. When pushing DGC in pram/buggy I definitely noticed the difference in their new local area. People are much friendlier, more likely to stop for you at zebra crossings, narrow pavements etc., say 'good morning', thank you for stopping for them. I just think maybe smaller places are like that in comparison to large cities.

You don't need to say thanks for stopping at a zebra. It's a legal requirement. You wouldn't say thanks to a car stopped at a red light and a zebra is no different

Agree it is so rude. It's the ones with the pushchairs walking side by side taking up the whole path so everyone else has to go in the road that winds me up.

I do say thanks but mostly out of habit. Agree with pp that most of the time the moving aside and holding open doors isn't necessary and it's a bit tiresome to be grateful all the time. All parents figure out quickly to push a door open walking backwards or wedging a foot if it opens outwards. And there's almost always enough room for both people to pass on a pavement (if you have a sensible buggy and not a tank).

@ginasevern there's no excuse for not thanking or acknowledging someone being kind, I agree! But I do take against this term "steely entitlement" 😆 It's more like "I have a million things on my mind... Living on three hours sleep / shellshocked from trying to get the shopping done with a toddler / oh shit I forgot the snacks and now there'll be a meltdown on the bus / I'm late for school pick up AGAIN / crap the baby has done a big poo and if I don't change it in the next 10 minutes it will leak and I forgot the change of clothes / I'm post partum and really need a wee / I've been pushing this heavy buggy all day and just need to get home" etc etc.

Rarely do you encounter true entitlement, and rarer still is it from a woman pushing a buggy. It's just a LOT caring for little kids. And as PP says, people can make space for you 30 times a day, very kindly but also very exhaustingly expecting gratefulness every time, when you have very little headspace as it is. But yes I do always thank, every time, because I know people are just trying to be nice.

Same here.
I'm astonished how many people walk 2/3 abreast and not part for a buggy coming towards.
I'm not going in the road with my child so you can chat uninterrupted.
Doors are a nightmare, I have not idea how people in wheelchairs cope if they dare to go out.
I'm shocked how very few people (especially staff in small shop I want to support) help with doors & they are often heavy and narrow.
(They must prefer re-painting the doorway than assist!)

I'm pushing a young toddler. But I adopted, so it might look like I'm not a 'new' mum from the age of the child, but I very much am! How would you judge me?

I guess I thank people who've had to take extra measures to accommodate me - usually dog walkers, or parents making sure their small children don't veer under my wheels obliviously.

But I always tuck in to the edge/slow down/have good spatial awareness, so a quick social smile on passing is adequate when you've both just budged up a bit.

The steely look of entitlement only comes out if I'm not budging over for someone who seems to expect me to stop or allow them to pavement hog.

Also agree with willow, I wouldn't always thank/acknowledge someone stopping at a zebra crossing not just running me over when that's the Highway Code/law. Just as I don't thank drivers who wait for me to drive past before entering the highway or on a roundabout etc if it's my right of way

Me too.

And it's the people who don't even acknowledge your existence after you say thank you that really get me! 😂

I agree with PP - Some people are just rude whether they have a pram or not!
I couldn’t imagine not saying Thank You to someone that had moved/helped me 😳 but everyone is different.

What pisses me off is people walking along texting or whatever who are oblivious to their surroundings. DH, toddler and I are currently away for a few days in a busy UK city and walking back to the hotel from dinner last night I had people walk into DSs buggy TWICE on a 15 min walk 🙄 One woman ran across the road to catch a bus and was so busy looking at the bus that she ran straight into the side of us!!
And another lady fell right on top of DS 😡 the person right infront of us (walking in the same direction) stepped out of the way last minute because the woman was obviously power walking straight towards him while texting and she was oblivious to the fact anyone was infront of her 🙄 So he stepped to the side and she toppled right into the front of DSs buggy before we even had the chance to stop.

She didn’t even apologise! She mumbled “oh dear” and just got up and walked away.

i always say thank you when someone helps me with the pram or let’s us go first on a narrow path. Most people are kind like that, but I’ve also had my fair share of people taking up the whole pavement so we can’t get past or people not moving unless I loudly say ‘excuse me’ then they look at me like I’m an inconvenience. I’ll just step into the road with my children in tow, shall I, you ignorant morons.

I had hideous toothache, no sleep and a pram with a stuck wheel in the supermarket the other day.
A member of staff with a trolley was blocking the aisle so two people couldn't get by. The lady on the other side let me go and I very obviously struggled to manoeuvre the pram through, nod smile as I went.
When she'd passed I heard a rut and a ringing your welcome. It had the opposite effect of shaming me. What an entitled twat I thought.
Just wondering if it was you op?
I stand by my original opinion that a nod was sufficient as someone had to make way for the other and you'd have been waiting a lot longer if id had to move out the way. The order of precedence conveniences the non prammer just as much as the prammer.
Lucky to get a smile ime. It's not exactly a huge gracious favour and I bet you wouldn't do that passive aggressive shit for a man.

I agree people should say thanks and be polite but it’s weird that you’re getting this rudeness solely from people pushing buggies and prams! Do you think you just notice it more from them because you’re specifically looking out for thanks?

I push a double and sometimes a triple pram and I couldn't tell you when anyone last opened a door for me. In fact, yesterday, a man stood and watched me hold open a string loaded gate to get a double and a toddler through, then said "oh you've done that before, well done". I was walking along a footpath the other day, and a cyclist repeatedly rang their bell from behind, we had nowhere to go, and he expected us to move off the path. And the attitude we have from cars when we have to go on the road because the pavement is used as a car park...

YANBUish, as a new mum I do make a conscious effort to be thankful. HOWEVER, there has been the rare time when I've been so lost in my own absolute exhaustion that I've not actually had the mental capacity , Honestly I just was barely able to function and pay attention to my surroundings. Oh, and there was one man who crossed the road SO FAR ahead of me, then passive aggressively yelled THANK YOU at me, when I honestly thought that he was just about to turn off the road. So, it's not always possible to thank everyone, you'd be a nodding dog.

I also don't agree with thanking cars at pedestrian crossings. It's the law.