The struggling with buggies point reminds me of an incident I was involved in recently. I use the word incident with deliberate dramatic emphasis, as to me, it was indeed, and incident...
I was waiting for a black cab outside Waterloo Station ( London- yes I am a Londoner )
It gets to my turn, and for some reason, I didn't want to get into the first taxi in the line, but you have little choice- the unwritten taxi drivers rules of having to take the first or else the first one comes and drags you out of the second/third taxi by your hair and shouts abuse at the driver for allowing you to reverse que jump...
anyway, i approach the cab and state my destination. I am standing there, with my walking stick, a heavily laden buggy, with a sleeping toddler in and a large suitcase on wheels. He says, Ok, get in the back... I wait for him to come round and help me in, which is the normal routine... he doesn't move.... I struggle to even get the bloody door open and feel myself getting past shocked & annoyed and verging on emotional.
Cue, lovely male passer by... sticks his head into the cab, shouts, " take it you are not helping this lovely ( cue me beaming) young mum into your cab which she is about to oay for... He helps me in, the cabby says nothing, moves not a muscle. Nice passer by offers to come with me to help me out at other end. States he has a wife and toddler at home and couldn't bare to see me struggle. I politely decline his offer, hoping the driver would get the idea by time we get there.
OH NO, he pulls up outside my friends flats, leaves clock running whilst I struggle to even get out. Luckily my pal was on the pavement by this time. The clock still running cost me an extra £3.50 to exit his horrible taxi.
Not sure where this fits in with discussion, but it does... somewhere... oh, nice man helping laden woman? I might have also been sneered at by passing lettuce wielding women, infact, I think I may have felt one hit me as I clambered into cab...