Letter to the Editor

Re: Strollers send some into a rolling rage:

Having seen what my pregnant wife went through riding the CTA [Chicago Transit Authority] to and from work, the antagonistic (and bullish) tone of the replies in Tuesday's article doesn't surprise me - only frustrates. After all, if the only passengers who give up their seats for someone in their third trimester tend to be little old ladies, why wouldn't Rush Hour [sic, oops!] patrons be so exasperated at the site of mothers and children using up precious space? After all, it has to be phenomenally easy for a singular parent to wheel their infant in through a jammed bus, find available seating, unstrap their child from the restraints, place them in the CTA's infant restraint seats (while praying the bus ride itself won't give the child whiplash), and folding down and disposing of the stroller.

But what I also sense is a case of classism. Many of the parents who ride on the bus or train with their infants are riding the bus not to get downtown to their relatively high-paying jobs, or to get to Wrigleyville to scope out the scene or whatnot, but to effectively get around. They use the CTA and not a car with adequate child-restraint seats because they cannot afford to own a car. For them, the CTA is a lifeline, inconvenience or not.

Jason Dye
32
Logan Square