A few years ago, I was walking around a busy mall with my father and we were walking towards the escalators to go down to the first floor. As we got closer I saw a mom with a young boy on her hip and a slightly older daughter, probably not more than 6 years old, at the top.
I could see that the daughter was very reluctant to get on the escalator even though her mom was trying to encourage her. The mom stepped onto the escalator while holding her daughter’s hand but the daughter didn’t step after her and just stood frozen. Naturally, the mom had to let go of her daughter’s hand lest she end up physically dragging her daughter onto the escalator. Now the mom was at the bottom of the escalator and the kid was stuck at the top.
I was now behind the kid, aware that there were other people behind me who wanted to use the escalator. And I could see the worried mom at the bottom. In those few seconds, I realised that the mom was probably stuck on what to do. Either she takes the escalator back up hoping her daughter is still there when she gets to the top or she tries to get her daughter to go down the escalator herself while her mom can watch her from the bottom. Neither option was ideal. So the solution my brain came up with in that moment was to just pick up the kid and ride the escalator down while holding her. In the time it took for us to get to the bottom I realised I just picked up a kid without even warning them or getting some form of permission from the kid or the mom.
Thankfully the kid did not squirm while I was holding her. I was so embarrassed when I got to the bottom I put the kid down in front of her mom, nodded to the mom and walked away. It probably helped put her mom at ease that I am woman, but still. Imagine a stranger just picking up your kid.
I could probably have moved the kid away from the escalators entrance and just waited for the mom to make her way back up, but in that moment my brain took the most straightforward route of ‘get kid to mom’. But I’m sure if I had moved the kid out of line of sight of her mom they both would have been way more anxious about the situation. The kid being able to see her mom the whole time was probably why she didn’t squirm while I was holding her on the way down.
Wherever they are, I hope that kid learned to use escalators by now.
It probably helped put her mom at ease that I am woman
Probably somewhat… As a man, it’s a crapshoot what kind of reaction I’ll get if I try to help someone else’s kid. Last time I was ice skating with my kids, a little (like 4 years old I’d guess) girl had fallen, she was getting quite upset, she was trying to get up but couldn’t get her skates to cooperate. Her older sister (who wasn’t much bigger) was just standing there kind of helpless while their dad (who didn’t have skates on, so wasn’t allowed on the ice) yelled incoherent instructions from 20 feet away. I asked the girl if it was ok if I helped her- she didn’t even say anything, just grabbed onto me, and let me pull her to her feet- and that’s when the dad decided to ignore the rules and walk out onto the ice himself finally. He grabbed her with a bit of a dirty look in my direction. They left shortly after.
A few years ago, I was walking around a busy mall with my father and we were walking towards the escalators to go down to the first floor. As we got closer I saw a mom with a young boy on her hip and a slightly older daughter, probably not more than 6 years old, at the top.
I could see that the daughter was very reluctant to get on the escalator even though her mom was trying to encourage her. The mom stepped onto the escalator while holding her daughter’s hand but the daughter didn’t step after her and just stood frozen. Naturally, the mom had to let go of her daughter’s hand lest she end up physically dragging her daughter onto the escalator. Now the mom was at the bottom of the escalator and the kid was stuck at the top.
I was now behind the kid, aware that there were other people behind me who wanted to use the escalator. And I could see the worried mom at the bottom. In those few seconds, I realised that the mom was probably stuck on what to do. Either she takes the escalator back up hoping her daughter is still there when she gets to the top or she tries to get her daughter to go down the escalator herself while her mom can watch her from the bottom. Neither option was ideal. So the solution my brain came up with in that moment was to just pick up the kid and ride the escalator down while holding her. In the time it took for us to get to the bottom I realised I just picked up a kid without even warning them or getting some form of permission from the kid or the mom.
Thankfully the kid did not squirm while I was holding her. I was so embarrassed when I got to the bottom I put the kid down in front of her mom, nodded to the mom and walked away. It probably helped put her mom at ease that I am woman, but still. Imagine a stranger just picking up your kid.
I could probably have moved the kid away from the escalators entrance and just waited for the mom to make her way back up, but in that moment my brain took the most straightforward route of ‘get kid to mom’. But I’m sure if I had moved the kid out of line of sight of her mom they both would have been way more anxious about the situation. The kid being able to see her mom the whole time was probably why she didn’t squirm while I was holding her on the way down.
Wherever they are, I hope that kid learned to use escalators by now.
Probably somewhat… As a man, it’s a crapshoot what kind of reaction I’ll get if I try to help someone else’s kid. Last time I was ice skating with my kids, a little (like 4 years old I’d guess) girl had fallen, she was getting quite upset, she was trying to get up but couldn’t get her skates to cooperate. Her older sister (who wasn’t much bigger) was just standing there kind of helpless while their dad (who didn’t have skates on, so wasn’t allowed on the ice) yelled incoherent instructions from 20 feet away. I asked the girl if it was ok if I helped her- she didn’t even say anything, just grabbed onto me, and let me pull her to her feet- and that’s when the dad decided to ignore the rules and walk out onto the ice himself finally. He grabbed her with a bit of a dirty look in my direction. They left shortly after.