English: Congestion on the London Underground (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Yesterday, I got off the underground train (tube) and the train filled quickly with new passengers. The train doors shut and there was only me and two small children left on the platform. Their parents made it on the train but they did not. Fear and panic set in immediately from both children. The look on the parents faces cut through my heart. As a parent, I knew every emotion they were experiencing as they stared at their children helplessly. They frantically tried to open the doors but the were locked as the train was preparing to leave. The mother was mouthing instructions to stay put they’d be back. I was mouthing, I’ll stay with them until you return. The father had a look of “not in this lifetime will I leave my children on a subway platform with a stranger” The children were starting to cry. Just as the train began to roll, the father slammed his hand on the emergency stop button. The train came to a screeching halt. What seemed like an eternity, the doors finally opened and the children were rejoined with their parents. PARENTS, HOLD YOUR CHILD’S HAND! This family looked to be tourists in a foreign country, in a very crowded London at the start of the Olympics! Masses of people were everywhere. This story could have ended tragically. GRAB THOSE HANDS AND DON’T LET GO!!!! PLEEEEEASE!
Forget mind the gap….MIND YOUR CHILDREN so you can watch them grow up! This could have happened to anyone, including me. Whew! It really made me stop and think. I hope it makes you stop and think too!
So happy all ended well….
How frightening for both the parents and the children! London can be a scary place at the best of times, but the Underground is worse than anywhere else. The crowds of people and the pushing and shoving can be scary enough for adults, leave alone kids on their own! Having lived in London myself, I was very pleased to move out to the coast when my kids were little, and only go back when I really have to.
Give me space anytime!
Great post, thank you
I love London but, it would be frightening for me if I had to keep up with little ones while there. I’d have a death grip on their little hands! So glad the dad hit the emergency button. I don’t know how the tube people feel about that sort of thing but, in my opinion, it was an emergency! I would have done the same thing.
Scary lesson learned for that family!
How lucky for them that YOU were there:) A story – w/ a nice ending like this – certainly inspires hope:)