Amiram Hayardeny's My China Experience

To Stroller or Not To Stroller, That is the Question

Here's a dilemma: you have a five year old, you're going on a trip and you wonder: to stroller or not to stroller.  If you decide to go with the stroller, you risk schlepping around with some extra weight, struggling to fold the damn thing at the most critical moments of the day (I swear, the thing knows when when not to fold).  In addition, you risk people making fun of your kid, and of you, for being taken for a ride.  Literally.  The alternative isn't better at all.  Guy will just stop sometime during the day, and guess what - my shoulders are a pretty comfortable chair.  It's only unfortunate that I don't have enough hair to provide something to hold on to, but  my ears actually provide reasonable handles.

A few months ago, before a trip to Thailand we had a similar dilemma, we chose to go with a stroller.  But to avoid an unnecessary waste of money, we decided on the cheapest looking stroller in the store.  The store attendant was shocked.  The stroller was apparently on display for years, only to show young parents what stroller not to buy.

To make a long story short, on the first day in Bangkok, at the Old Palace, the stroller caved in.  Guy disappeared in the wreckage and we had to get him out.  We looked around, and when we thought nobody was looking, we left the collection of fabric and scrap metal near a relatively remote garbage can.   The stroller survived the trip, but didn't make the first day in Bangkok.  R.I.P.

This time, for our trip to Hong Kong, we had the same dilemma.  The stroller strategy won again, but this time, we went to the same store, and asked for the absolute best stroller.  The attendant was contemplating whether or not to call Child Services, but the prospect of making a big sale convinced him not to.  We took a brand new, Ferrari red, ship shape, spic n' span stroller.  A Rolls Royce.  The mother of all strollers.  We were happy.  Sudden relaxation went throuh my shoulders.

Of course it didn't fit in the trunk, and of course we had to check it in at the oversized luggage counter.  But throughout all these small problems, we knew: Guy will not spend the day on his father's tired and old shoulders.  Or so we wished.

We picked up the stroller at the Hong Kong International Airport.  Guy jumped in, and promptly disappeared within.  A few minutes later, we realized, the Master Stroller caved in exactly like the old one.  The thing never made it out of the arrival hall at the airport, we dumped it near carouselle number 2.

If you are a world traveler, and you happen by an abandoned stroller, orphaned, standing alone in some corner, wondering why, you would know: the Hayardenys were here...

We are now considering artificial shoulders as an alternative.

Guy, by the way, was not unhappy with the results.  He mentioned though, that when we get back to Beijing, he would want  a new stroller.  "No comment" was my answer.

Posted at 07:17PM May 22, 2008 by Amiram Hayardeny in Personal  |  Comments[0]