All about strolling...

When I had my back injury, I got to experience the joys of trying to navigate the world (at Christmastime!) in a wheelchair and I realized how horribly inconsiderate and self-absorbed people can be.

Now, with daily excursions with a stroller, I still can't get over how inconsiderate and self-absorbed people are. It's not as bad as with the wheelchair, but wow! people do strange things. It's rare to go out and about with out shaking my head at least once at someone. And you'd think I'd have been prepared for it, what with the wheelchair experience. Yeah, right!

For some reason people think there is no one else in the world and they can just wander around however they want. My favourites in the last week or so:

• The guy who sped up to the stop sign and blared his horn at me even though I was already about 3/4 of the way through the intersection before he came out of the alley and turned the corner to approach the intersection
• The guy who pulled into the crosswalk about three seconds before I got to the curb, again I was already *in* the intersection, and then told me to take my baby into to traffic to get up on the other side. I was a bit cranky that day so I just stood beside his door until he backed up. I mean really, he had the red light!
• The couple walking side-by-side down the sidewalk by our house who gave me a dirty look because they had to walk one in front of the other for, oh, five seconds
• The various people who are walking down the street minding their own business until they see the stroller. Then they veer off course and walk toward the stroller, looking for a direct hit or something
• The oh-so-helpful people at street corners who tell me Baby J is dressed too hot/too cold/is going to suffocate/should be home in bed not out on the street
• The same people who, after staring at Baby J in her pink "Princess" hat and pink blanket, ask me how old my little boy is

And I could go on and on but I think I'll stop now. This is nowhere near as inconsiderate and rude as people were when I was in the wheelchair, but some days I really feel like there's an entire three or four generations (older and younger than mine and mine too) that missed the part of growing up where moms and dads teach manner.

Sigh...