About 11:45 A.M. on Monday 8/11/08 Gladwyne, PA. I saw an overweight caucasian female with blond hair and a bad, frizzy perm pushing a dark bluish stroller down Conshohocken State Road towards the Post Office. She was wearing an indescript dark green t-shirt, jeans and white sneakers.This road is only one lane each way - with no sidewalks. She was pushing the baby going the same way as traffic. Cars and trucks (it's a major thoroughfare) were whipping around them.
I was sick when I saw this. It may as well have been a freeway. It is an extremely dangerous road. There have been many accidents and deaths on it, and it is very twisty as well.
The baby had light brownish/blondish hair and looked not more than about a year old. She had on a pink foral shirt, denim clamdigger looking shorts, and soft leather pink shoes. They went into the post office where the woman spent quite alot of time. Baby was very antsy and unhappy. The woman thrust a piece of paper at the baby (in a very exasperated way) to try to distract her. Not even a toy, but a post office pamphlet or something to that effect. As a mother I would never expect for someone to put my child in such a dangerous situation as this. I am assuming this was a nanny as this particular location is extremely wealthy, and she did not have the appearance of a resident.
28 comments:
That does sound very dangerous. I'd like to think maybe the nanny's car broke down or something and she had no other choice but to walk on that dangerous of a road. Probably not, though, which is the sad part.
This post bothered me. Not because of the person pushing the stroller. But the description of this individual. And to automatically asssume it was a nanny because of her appearance. That seems a little stuck up to me.
Maybe, shes a struggling mother, who doesn't have a car at her disposal. And she can't help it if theres no sidewalk. Maybe, instead of writing on here, you can call the town up, and mention that you see people walking on the side of this dangerous road. And suggest they put in a sidewalk.
Thanks
LMAO! Get over yourself..
"wealthy location." PSHH.... is all I can conjour up to say for such a stuck up statement.
I have to wonder, what do people do if they need to get to that post office and don't have a car?
Appearance of resident= stuck up, sexually frustrated, miserable human being.
And FYI, darling, while Gladwyne is certainly no ghetto, it is not nearly as nice or 'wealthy' as you think it is.
Do we want people to submit posts, or not?
Because the current sport of "Attack the OP" is going to produce the "not" result.
I'm sure she was just trying to be descriptive. And, true enough, sometimes you CAN get a sense of who is a probable stranger to a particular location. Not because of prejudice..but because of that sixth sense we moms have...or other, perhaps more obvious, things.
If this was my baby and my nanny, I would sure want to know...whether I loved the way the OP described her or not.
when we see people puttiing children in harm's way or neglecting them, we usually see them in the ugliest of lights.
that's the truth.
deal with it.
"Not because of prejudice..but because of that sixth sense we moms have...or other, perhaps more obvious, things."
Sorry, mom, but it IS because of prejudice/preconceived notions/stereotypes,etc. Those are the other, 'more obvious' things to which you refer.
If the OP was 'just trying to be descriptive', she should have tried a teensy bit harder.
Oh brother.
You know, I grew up in a fairly "comfortable" community. Every now and then I would see somebody dressed in really dirty clothes pushing a shopping cart with a load of well used items in it. Every time, I assumed that the person was not a resident of my town. Is that prejuidce? Or an obvious conclusion?
At what point does a simple observation become prejudice? Give OP a break. She saw. We didn't.
And frankly, the constant harping that everybody is "prejudiced" is getting a little tiresome. Noticing outward things about a person is not prejudice. Assuming bad things about them based on those observations alone is prejudice. See the difference?
mom, you are certainly entitled to your opinion, as I am mine. I find the tone of this sighting obnoxious.
Have a fantastic day :)
Whether this was a nanny, mom, or nanny sent to the PO by a mom, it sounds dangerous, and the mom should be made aware of the situation.
I don't know the area the OP is in. Her description may be valid there. For purposes of description in my neighborhood, you cannot assume anything from appearances. I, a nanny, live two blocks from Park Ave. in a rent stabilized apt. SAHMs from Park and 5th Aves. run around the playground in jeans and tee shirts. (My jeans are as chic as theirs, ha ha) The guy collecting cans may sleep in a box on a block with residents in the Social Register. I'm just saying, not all neighborhoods are alike.
It doesn't really matter if it was a mom or a nanny or a friend of the family. The point is - the child was in danger and that is why she posted. The posters comment about the nanny not fitting in to the neighborhood is a little strange, but I think she was just trying to describe the situation she saw...I wouldn't read too much into it.
I'm sorry but the author of this post sounds like a stuck up snob. "a bad, frizzy perm" ...well what if she liked her perm that way?!
and overweight? I'm sorry that not everyone has the perfect body, and I'm sorry...some overweight frizzy haired people can be wealthy, or maybe she had to walk farther then that "wealthy" neighborhood because maybe that was her own kid and she HAD to walk and didn't really have a choice whether or not she had to be on the road.
people driving need to look out for pedestrians no matter what, no matter how curvy the road may be.
..... or, no matter how curvy the pedestrians may be! ;)
I am from the area that is being talked about, and I believe the OP described the situation as best as she could. The street that the post office is on, is not only dangerous, but as the OP said, there are no sidewalks. I doubt this situation was a mother without a car...OP, I hope more Main Line moms become aware of this site, maybe you could post a link at the Gladwyne Pharmacy or somewhere nearby regarding this incident. Thank you for posting.
I know exactly where this is. I took care of a boy who went to a montesori close to that road.
Its a rich neighborhood. So I doubt a mom would pass through in that area.
Best part, you won't believe this: I was once told by my previous employer to walk there to a friends house! Can you believe that?? it is such a busy and dangerous road! I told her absolutely not! I'm not pushing a stroller and walking with her son on my arm with or against that kind of traffic. The roads are way too narrow and curvy.
Some people...
I'm loosing my mind. Please let me correct myself. I meant to say that I doubt a carless mom would pass throught that area like that. But hey nothing is impossible. No one should walk there. Period.
Maybe the nanny was trying to escape Susan Tepper? And as such she was not thinking about sidewalks and right of way?
never heard of Tepper. googled her. what a prize this one is! Yikes!
Hope mom/nanny does not find herself in that position anymore. Not a good one to be in especialy with a baby. Don't know her situation,butI myself have been so down and out that I had to walk many places on many busy streets with my infant.Sometimes we have to do what we have to do. Then ten years later we ask ourselves..."what the hell was I thinking?"
I am the OP. and am not snobby. I am a postal carrier for the Gladwyne Post Office and live in fear when delivering mail on that road. There is no shoulder. I have heard many times tires screeching to a halt behind me as I am stopped to deliver mail - with my flahers on. If I am scared, an in a mail truck - how safe do you think the situation for that BABY? Her description was a physical description. The fact is she was overweight, and had a frizzy perm. I have a very good sense as to who is a resident and who is not. I am also from the mainline - but not wealthy - but I've been around enough to assess what I see pretty accurately.
But did you actually touch the pink leather shoes? I'm worried that the description is incorrect, otherwise.
OP
I believe you were looking out the best you could for the baby, and if you're a mail carrier in that general area, then that should qualify you for knowing who belongs and who doesn't. I don't think your comment was snobby at all.
OP hang in there. Not everybody here automatically attacks the OP...but some do. Just think of it as sort of a weird "initiation" and don't take it personally.
My first impression, in fact, when I read your comment about her not looking like a resident was that you were trying to avoid the inevitable "how do you know it wasn't the mom" conversation. Good job with avoiding that...but you got the "you're snobby" standby in its place. hehehe And you can just thank oyur lucky stars that nanny happened to be white...otherwise we would also be enjoying a debate as to whether or not you are a racist.
When I first came to ISYN I happened to mention, in the course of a post, that my kids take piano lessons. Boy if that didn't bring on the comments about snobbery! And once (early on, before I figured "how this all works,") somebody accused me of being fat and lazy. I made the mistake of responding that I am in good shape...which naturally brought on a whole series about how conceited I must be. I was totally new to blogging and completely bewildered.
So anyway...I thought your post was a very good one.
well...i think the reason we attack posters is because they claim to care so much about kids, but they often don't seem to care about people.
sometimes people post unkind descriptions or jump to conclusions that the nanny is a "bad" nanny. or they just don't seem to care about the nanny at all
either you were worried for both of them on that busy road or you weren't. i would have been scared for both of them.
you said you saw them in the post office. instead of picking the woman apart for giving the baby a pamphlet instead of a toy, why didn't you offer your concerns to the woman? tell her what you just told us about the dangerous road. if you were sincerely concerned for both of them i am sure she would be at least somewhat appreciative. if she was rude to you, THEN you could judge her.
it just seems to me, as a nanny, that people jump to the defense of chlidren but skip over actually caring about people. i think this hypocracy is why people criticize posts.
We worry about the kids more than the nannies because the adult nannies are capable of making decisions for their own safety..or not. The babies are completely innocent and have no choice.
When I see a bicycle rider weaving in and out of traffic on a busy road, I think to myself, "you are an idiot." But I do not pull them over and lecture them about the dangers of riding bicycles among fast moving traffic. If they had a baby on the bike...I just might think about it....ESPECIALLY if I thought it wasn't the parent.
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