Dear Urban Diplomat: How do I rid my coffee shop of space-hogging stroller moms?
Every morning during rush hour, I take the Path from the subway to my office building. There’s only one place to grab a decent coffee en route, and it’s always packed with the same gaggle of moms and their fleet of supersized strollers, which take up most of the walkway beside the shop. How do I get them to consider a venue change?
—Flock Blocked, Downtown
You don’t begrudge drivers for turning left or resent pedestrians for standing on the sidewalk (I hope), so don’t lose your cool over some Path-jamming parents. They’re just as entitled to enjoy the city’s snow-, sleet- and hail-free underground as you are, and they’re probably only down there because most above-ground coffee shops don’t have enough space to accommodate them. So set your alarm clock five minutes earlier and grab your java elsewhere. Waging war on a gang of moms won’t make you the commuter hero you are in your head—it will just make you look like, well, a baby.
Send your questions to the Urban Diplomat at urbandiplomat@torontolife.com
