So after I finished giving directions to some Frog yesterday who couldn't find Columbus Avenue in his Guide Routard ["because it's nowhere near here, mon vieux, this is Lexington Avenue."], I tried and failed to warn him about the Frog that had rolled up behind him. He turned smack into the side of the red Bugaboo, which was being pushed by the wife while the husband walked alongside. No harm, no foul, and he made a shocked, embarassed apology and went on his way. The Bugaboogers and I, meanwhile, were left to wait for the light together. So I said, lightheartedly, "And here, I just read in the paper that the problem was the Bugaboos running into the pedestrians."
Well, Dad kind of chuckles, but Mom snarls at me, "WHAT??" and starts shooting daggers out of her eyes. And suddenly, I'm forced into a no-win situation, where I either have to cut-n-run and be labeled a babbling street lunatic, or engage a stranger in far too long a conversation on a street corner. And it dawns on me that I don't have my kid or my Bugaboo, so she's already reading me as either another threat to her little genius or, at minimum, exactly the kind of child-free prick that totally unfair article was based on.
So to cut my losses, I just say, "There was that article the other day in the Times about Bugaboos..." and leave it at that. Dad chuckles again, but Mom is still pissed. Really pissed, so I just shrug and head off the other way. And then I think, "Damn, these Upper East Side Bugaboo people are some ornery critters."
Which is a roundabout way of saying that Dutch is right, too, that the problem of big strollers on the sidewalk has a lot to do with the parents who fall somewhere on the spectrum between "clueless/oblivious" and "raging snob with an outsized sense of entitlement who doesn't give a damn about the people around her who obviously [sic] can't afford an $800 stroller."
There is an easy cheap fix. Our Mclaren techno is worth its weiht in gold. Smallish, agile and has yet to let my wife down. Me I prefer a side saddle shoulder position for our 16 month old son. But the Mclaren is great when I'm tired.
Cheers
This is all just so reminiscent of the "people who talk on cell phones in public are rude." No, they're not. If you're a rude person, you're going to be rude with or without a cell/Bug/yappy dog/Hummer/etc. If you're not a rude person, you'll use your tools in a way that doesn't inconvenience other people.
That Mom is Exhibit A of why so many of us are afraid of the Upper East Sayeed.
I saw a bugaboo with a cupholder yesterday. Unfortunately I was too rushed to stop and ask where it came from. It was a one piece grey plastic tray with cup inserts that stretched from one side to the other on the "babyside" of the handlebars. Any insight into this?
I agree with the previous poster in that the people are the pricks not the prams. I was an asshole years before I bought Zubin's Buzz. I am currently using it to knock over the post-bender, iced mocha sucking, chain smoking, cell phone gabbing, repli-chicks on Sunday morning in Murray Hill who clog up all sidewalks waiting for a brunch table.
Fuck the upper east side. You haven't seen any good 2 BR co-op listings there have you?
Oh yeah, and the comment on your boy Dutch's site on the cost of these strollers: What the heck is that? My consumption is conspicuous to you only. To me, it's just the way I cart my kid to Whole Foods.
[that yuppie grocery store, you mean? heh -ed.]
In response to Mike re: the cupholder on the Bugaboo...I think you saw the Babu tray. We have one on our Cameleon. Looks okay and serves it's purpose. Looking for something more "integrated".
After a quick search, I believe it was the Babu cupholder. Two things I also learned - (1) daddytypes already reviewed and rejected it, and (2) even this sub-standard option is no longer on the market.
Alas.
Mike -
We bought the "Drink Bottle Holder" by Valco baby from our bugaboo dealer.
At the time, we were not aware that there was a raging debate of unsatisfaction concerning cupholders and the frog.
We still have yet to assemble the stroller, but it looks as if the holder will work.
Funny! I needed a good laugh today.