This post is dedicated to all new parents out there who do not, and I repeat: DO NOT, own a car or any other sort of vehicle.

Well, this week is Natasha’s 5th week of life and she has successfully accomplished a new and exciting milestone over it which is being taken on public transportation. As you may know or might have guessed, Matthew and I do not have a car. This might seem entirely strange to some individuals, particularly new parents, but after several discussions and contemplations on the topic, we decided that cost-effectively it would be better for us to stick with good old TTC. And in addition to that, we are simply not interested in driving.

So yesterday morning, we bundled Natasha up in her warm ‘polar-bear’ winter suit, placed her in the stroller and headed out towards the bus stop. It was a Sunday, and we were to drop the baby off at Julia’s parents’ house while we headed downtown Toronto for a few hours. It was a cold, rainy day and we were forced to place a plastic rain-covering over the stroller to protect the baby from getting wet. So once the bus finally arrived, we were disappointed that it wasn’t one of the newly renovated ‘kneeling’ buses which do not have steps, are wider, and are designed specifically for persons in wheelchairs (and strollers!). The bus that arrived, however, had several steps which required us to lift the stroller and drag it by ourselves. How fun is that?!

Now, here is the real fun part: being on a bus implies being surrounded by well-meaning strangers and not so pleasant persons, and of course, some people simply MUST contribute their two-cents and blurt out some sort of comment regarding a newborn baby.

First, a Pilipino woman began adjusting the rain-cover on the stroller since it has slightly slipped – Matthew and I found this motherly gesture somewhat kind and appropriate, so that can pass. Next, a Russian-speaking stranger began eyeing the baby, commented on how pretty she is, and then proceeded with a story of her recent babysitting experience… I was only half-listening to her as I needed to hold the handle of the stroller at the same time to prevent it from moving, so this lady’s blabbing was really unnecessary at that point in time. But the worst of it was when a tall gentleman boarded the bus and very rudely bumped himself into the stroller while passing by it. He then mumbled something about people using strollers on buses and taking up too much space – like, hello! It did not appear as if any other passenger had a problem passing by, so why should you? – and not only that, but on his way out the bus, he bumped into the stroller ONCE AGAIN and this time intentionally pushed Matthew to the side. That pretty much irritated the heck out of both Matthew and I for the remainder of the day.

So this is our adventure with the stroller on a public bus! I certainly hope that in the future we would not have too much hassle with annoying strangers on the transit as it isn’t welcome at all. But aside from this, the bus-experience isn’t all too bad, and we are still not considering buying a car!