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Original poster

Station staff refused to help her carry buggy so she went to the papers. Has she got a point?

197 replies

Spidermama · 30/11/2009 15:56

Here.

I'm not sure how I feel about this. Part of me thinks there must be lifts for disabled people she could have used but maybe I'm being unsisterly. I kind of feel sorry for the staff who've been blamed and find themselves in the paper.

What do you think?

OP posts:
Peachy · 01/12/2009 09:53

It depends misdee- oneat uni just fits a small wheelchair and has a clear disabled only sign.

misdee · 01/12/2009 09:57

what happens if the wheelchair is bigger than small then?
my old neighbours wheelchairs are like beds almost. they are proper big powered wheelchairs.

i have to make a decision when going to town. the short way which involves a v ery old train station bridge, which takes me 10mins to get to town and straight to the shopping centre.

or the longer way, 25mins walk, no steps at all. takes me to the outsdie town centre.

misdee · 01/12/2009 09:58

and why would i put her down when in the sling?

missmama · 01/12/2009 10:05

Looking at the picture I would have unclipped the carseat, folded the chassis and carried one in each hand. It does look quite tiny really.

Thandeka · 01/12/2009 10:09

the chassis is ENORMOUS and quite heavy when folded down. The whole thing seems bigger when folded down than when up! Would have been easier to bump I would have thought....

MrsBadger · 01/12/2009 10:11

and if not, then carried the carseat +child up and left it at the top of the stairs, then gone back to fetch chassis

or vice versa

like that puzzle where you have to get the chicken, the fox and the corn across the river...

SnowyBoff · 01/12/2009 10:13

I am baffled as to why people didn't help. What a mean country this is, where we don't even try to help a fellow citizen more than usually encumbered for whatever reason. And all these people on here judging her, as well. Miserable bloody lot.

missmama · 01/12/2009 10:16

Ahh well you see I am using a Mamas and Papas classic chassis, they all look small to me.
And I have done both, unclipped and carried both at the same time and carried them up separately having to decide which to leave at the top and at the bottom.
I have also as somebody earlier said 'hoicked' the pram on to my hip and gone up that way.

But she looks young.......
and not quite as 'sturdy' as me.....

Laquitar · 01/12/2009 10:18

I cant stand this 'poor me'crap. Millions of women with babies go up and down stairs every day. I live in London and used to take the tube. I never thought of asking the staff to help me. There are women who drop babies at nursery during rush hour, they still manage.

The thing is if the staff helped her then they would have to help every parent with baby/children. Can you imagine that?

Some people just don't want to push theirselves at all and expect help all the time.

missmama · 01/12/2009 10:22

Also my friends husband works at the local train station. He helped an old lady with her shopping trolley up and down the platforms in October. He is still having physio on his shoulder and hopes to be back at work before Christmas.

(And no. He is not a wuss I didnt really call him that )

MrsBadger · 01/12/2009 10:24

NB at a small village station there might not have been any other passengers to ask for help

IsItMeOr · 01/12/2009 10:28

I think it's tacky to go to the papers, but I am surprised at the lack of sympathy/empathy here. Would your views be different if you found she had a c-section? Or was still recovering from a 3rd degree tear?

Those stairs look quite similar to the scary sets at our local station, which I am frankly quite wary on without carrying anything. I also couldn't have made it up them carrying DS in his car seat 10 weeks after my c-section. And you would be totally mad to think it was a good idea to bump a newborn down the steps at our local station because if you lost hold of the pram it would end very badly indeed.

Point is that the station needs an accessible entrance for use by anybody who isn't able to use the stairs. Just because some people are safely able to carry a buggy and baby up the stairs, doesn't mean everybody can or should.

sarah293 · 01/12/2009 10:29

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn

tethersend · 01/12/2009 10:31

Have given this thread much thought, and I agree with SnowyBoff.

I can hoik the pram up and down stairs- but do I want to? No, I do not. If someone offers to help, I shall bite their hand off and thank them graciously. I do not want to be a buggy martyr.

Laquitar I use the tube all the time. I can do the stairs alone if no-one offers to help me; but this does not mean that I will walk (when buggyless) past someone with a buggy without offering to help. It's just polite, surely?

Or is the attitude more one of 'I had to struggle, why shouldn't she?'. I find that sad.

Laquitar · 01/12/2009 10:35

Isitme,
i am sure if she had sc she would have mention it. She also says that her dh was there last week and he asked for help too. They seem precious to me.

Disability is diferent though and i reserve my empathy for those cases.

Laquitar · 01/12/2009 10:43

Tethershed, many people struggle thats life. The tube is also full of people coming from heathrow with huge suitcases. They don't ask for help. If we decide to travel with suitcases or buggies or whatever then it is our responsibility nobody else's.

tethersend · 01/12/2009 10:50

So you don't offer to help, Laquitar?

Would you really walk past someone struggling up or down stairs with a buggy?

2shoes · 01/12/2009 10:53

i don't offer to help.
I am not going to risk putting my back out.
I need it to push dd's wheelchair and lift her(aged 14)

tethersend · 01/12/2009 10:57

I have put my back out lifting my own buggy...

...hence my millions of posts on every available thread. I can't move.

Have to say, though, I would and do offer to help.

Laquitar · 01/12/2009 10:57

I didn't say that. Sometimes i do. But if someone is whining and expect it 'de facto' then i will not.

AvrilH · 01/12/2009 10:58

"By SnowyBoff Tue 01-Dec-09 10:13:44
I am baffled as to why people didn't help. What a mean country this is, where we don't even try to help a fellow citizen more than usually encumbered for whatever reason."

A passerby DID help

I live near a station with very high and difficult steps, I am ALWAYS offered help by fellow passengers, if nobody offered I wouldn't mind asking, but I've never needed to

CitizenPrecious · 01/12/2009 11:04

I'm a non driver and spent years struggling on public transport with my three. Fair play to her for bringing this matter to people's attention.

Otherwise what are we saying- stop moaning, you lot with the wheels, either struggle on by yourselves, get a car, or just stay at home?

tethersend · 01/12/2009 11:06

So you only offer if they maintain a dignified silence and struggle quietly, Laquitar?

Like Avril, I am offered help 9 times out of 10 when on the tube; I like what that says about our society. For the same reason, I will offer to help if someone is struggling- is it that much of a sin if they are actually asking for help?

2shoes · 01/12/2009 11:07

some people have a good reason not to offer.

Laquitar · 01/12/2009 11:10

Yes, if they are quite i will help, if they moan i will not

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