I'll just endanger my child's life so I don't have to walk 50 feet

[greensinestro]

Great story on how not to be a parent of the year.

[Seshat]

It would be nice to have an emergency turn-off button that you could/are allowed to use. Cart on escalator? Well, now it's stairs. Good luck with that.

Escalators eat toes, long skirts, and other such things on a regular basis. Don't get on one until you see the big red emergency stop button. In fact, if you feel like being a good neighbour, glance at every escalator you pass, just to see if there's trouble or incipent trouble.

There's a reason there's a sign on escalators promoting closed-toe shoes, and warning you to stay off the yellow section at each side. I've been a lot more wary of escalators since one ate my favourite long skirt. (Thankfully it was only material damage.)

[Monterey Jack]

Then there are the morons who don't notice that their kids are playing on the escalators...

"Jesus Christ, that fucking kid is on the escalator again!"

[WishfulSpirit]

It would be nice to have an emergency turn-off button that you could/are allowed to use. Cart on escalator? Well, now it's stairs. Good luck with that.

There is an emergency stop button, but hitting it while the riders were on the escalator would be worse. The sudden stop could throw the child out of the cart. I also don't know if using the button sounds an alarm. I'll have to ask if I can push the button if someone is heading that way and won't listen.

[evilhomer]

Though oddly, I sometimes get irritated with people who are perfectly capable of using the escalator who choose to use the elevator instead. I've frequently had to wait for the next car to arrive because I can't fit my son's wheelchair into the elevator with all the people who don't need to use it already in there. It's hard enough with people who have strollers, other wheelchair users, and the few people who are perfectly able bodied but have a phobia or something to that effect, but then to add even more people when a wonderfully accessible escalator is *right there* irritates me to no end.

I'm quite the bully in these situations, from directly calling them idiots who should be taking the stairs and telling people to squeeze those morons in if they want to be so lazy; I'll hold the door open until they get the hint. I even physically removed and threatened to kill one dumbass who tried to force his way into a full elevator when my wife was pregnant. Not something that I make a habit of, but when I can assume with 99% certainty that these are people perfectly capable of using other means, I'll let my bad side out.

It pisses me off to no end when people risk the safety of a helpless child due to their laziness and/or stupidity. Put yourself at risk and hopefully become a Darwin award nominee, but don't endanger someone who can't make that decision and whose health is fully entrusted to you.

[mathnerd]

Though oddly, I sometimes get irritated with people who are perfectly capable of using the escalator who choose to use the elevator instead. I've frequently had to wait for the next car to arrive because I can't fit my son's wheelchair into the elevator with all the people who don't need to use it already in there. It's hard enough with people who have strollers, other wheelchair users, and the few people who are perfectly able bodied but have a phobia or something to that effect, but then to add even more people when a wonderfully accessible escalator is *right there* irritates me to no end.

[MoonCat]

Just as bad are the idiots I see in the subway stations getting onto the escalators with a kid in a stroller. The stations all have elevators, too.

Then there are the morons who don't notice that their kids are playing on the escalators...

[mathnerd]

Shit like this is probably why there are metal posts at the entrances to the escalators in the big box stores that have them around here. They also have a part in the middle that will take the carts up, with warnings not to leave children in them while they are on the lift. Thankfully, I've never seen anybody break that rule. Yet.

[raudf]

A smart judge would throw the case out, seeing as there's an elevator within walking distance, and an employee who told them not to do it.

You don't have to win to be able to sue, though. And it might not be the lawsuit itself they are looking for but the pity publicity of having their kid hurt badly by the mean, mean store!

Common sense is something that isn't inherited. It's learned and they sure aren't teaching the kid any, if it survives it's childhood, that is.

[Chromatix]

Escalators always SHOULD have an emergency stop button. The correct thing to do when you see something unsafe happening IS to hit that button, then explain why.

Of course, whether Corporate will take exception to that sort of policy is another matter.

[eltf177]

A smart judge would throw the case out, seeing as there's an elevator within walking distance, and an employee who told them not to do it.

Agreed, but there's always some idiot who sees gold at the end of the hospital stay and some ambulance-chaser who will take the case...

[XCashier]

Stupid perhaps. Or lazy. Or worse, deliberately setting up a situation for a lawsuit...

A smart judge would throw the case out, seeing as there's an elevator within walking distance, and an employee who told them not to do it.

[notalwaysright]

It would be nice to have an emergency turn-off button that you could/are allowed to use. Cart on escalator? Well, now it's stairs. Good luck with that.

[taxguykarl]

I'd guess either stupid or lawsuit, eltf, as it is more difficult to handle a shopping cart on an escalator than an elevation

[eltf177]

Stupid perhaps. Or lazy. Or worse, deliberately setting up a situation for a lawsuit...