I would also add, if you’re under the weather, stay above ground. Nobody wants your germs on the turnstiles, poles, or handrails, their faces…If you’ve no other option, bring copious Kleenex.

My fav subway moment – a guy shelling peanuts and dropping them on the floor of a brand new subway car.

BUT one of the things I hate the most about public transportation would be kids riding during crazy commute hours anyway. What is with the schools that think that going on a field trip at 7 or 8 am is a good idea? There is no fun part of a commute, but when you see a flock of kids pushing their way on the train all hope of having a decent day goes out the window. Same goes for those parents who take their kids on the train during the crazy commute hours. You would think that the parents were concerned with the safety of their children, and dragging them onto a busy train full of cranky people, or the potentially dangerous crime and violence that happens on a train doesn’t prove that point much. My husband commutes with our child and when he takes the train with her he shifts his hours to protect her from the crazy crowd in addition to being respectful of those just trying to get to work.

I’ll keep walking thank you.

I find your admonition that I resort to using the elevator to avoid annoying you absolutely ridiculous. I have every right to take advantage of the benefits of escalator use as much as you do. Perhaps you ought to lobby for an “adults only” rule on the escalators. Good luck with that.

So I think where we finally wind up is that you have offered a “tip” to inform me that my fellow travelers are “annoyed” when I duly obey the posted placards located at the end of each escalator and follow the guidelines of the escalator industry, METRO, the Elevator Escalator Safety Foundation, and the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (among others).

To avoid annoying them, you appear to recommend I willfully disobey these many official authorities and ignore the well-documented increase the risk of injury to my 3 year old child.

Your tip is noted. You’re annoyed. I got it.

Now, after carefully weighing the annoyance of strangers against the safety of my child, I gotta tell you, it’s not even close.

Please accept my apologies in advance — I’m afraid those of us who commute to work with our children in tow (and while perhaps not numbering in the thousands, there are quite a few of us) will continue to annoy you in the future.

And I don’t really care what the “escalator industry safety experts” say. I’m perfectly capable of walking up a flight of stairs whether they’re moving or not. I have legs that propel me forward for a reason, not to just stand idly on a mindless moving machine. If I had my way, I’d remove the escalators altogether and just have elevators for those too weak or unable to climb.

If you care about your kid’s safety that much, then ride the elevator. You can have your kid beside you, in front of you, on your shoulders, or in a stroller and I won’t care one bit.

Also, while appreciate that common use often trumps policy, in many things, I’m not sure what you are suggesting that I “need to be prepared” for it. When I combine that statement with your earlier one that “I’m going to use [my legs] to climb up the escalator whether the person on the left likes it or not,” I fear you are suggesting that you will push your way past my child (who is actually the one who stands on the left), greatly increasing the safety risk.

I sincerely hope that I am misreading your comments. However, if in fact I am reading you correctly, I would say that that anyone who subjects my child to a harmful or offensive touching (no matter how slight) in their quest to push past risks immediate arrest and criminal prosecution (as well as civil liability). I’m not being flip.

Being a few minutes late into the office kind of pales in comparison to having to explain to the boss why you need to be bailed out of lock-up for assault, doesn’t it?

Again, I hope I am just misunderstanding your comments and we can all just get to work and home in peace.

As for kids, I would rather have my kid in front of me (and I do when our nieces are visiting) so that I can see exactly where they’re stepping and lift them up more easily if they need it.

I don’t disagree with your motives for standing on the left, but you also need to understand that common use often trumps policy. If people are expecting to walk up the escalator to “shave 20 seconds off their commute”, then you need to be prepared for it.

Q: Could treads be painted differently on left and right halves to indicate where to walk versus where to stand?
(Walk Left / Stand Right signs be posted).

A: Metro does not encourage customers to Walk Left/Stand Right on our escalators. We recommend all customers
stand while riding our escalators for their safety and for the safety of those around them.

So my fellow travelers, please do not get angry with me for refusing to sacrifice the safety of my child (so that you may shave a precious 20 seconds off of your commute). There are 26,000 injuries to children every year on escalators, with the average age being 6 years old. We ALL have the right to use the escalators safely.