Kindness

Something wonderful happened yesterday. Augie and I were on the train to Täby Centrum (to find the one grocery store in Stockholm that sells baby food made entirely of vegetables!), and as we neared our stop, I stood up and pushed the stroller towards the door. A woman was standing in front of us. As the doors opened she turned to me, smiled, and said, "Can I help you?" (well, actually she said, "Kan jag hjälpa dig?"). "Yes, please!", I answered, and she picked up the front end of the stroller and helped us climb off the train. She set the stroller down, smiled again, and turned and walked away.

This small act of kindness will come as no surprise to most Americans; it's common sense and basic good manners to help people who look like they could use a little help, most especially mothers trying to do anything at all with a baby in tow. But here in Sweden, that type of kind offering is almost unheard of. I don't know if it's Swedes in general or Stockholmers in particular, but people here are rude. A more common occurrence is that someone will step in front of the stroller to get on or off the subway before me (going so far as to bump into me if I'm in the way, even if I was standing there first), and a Stockholmer will almost never step aside to give you space on the sidewalk. No one has ever held a door open for me in this city. The other day I was trying to exit a department store with two sets of double doors, so I turned the stroller around and backed into the first door, pushing it open with my back and trying to pull Augie through. A woman was entering the store at the same time, so I waited for her to walk through the second set of doors. Rather than holding the door open for me so I could get me and the baby out, she actually rushed around in front of me so that she could get through the door the stroller was holding open before it shut.

I wonder if I will ever get over the general rudeness here, or if I will eventually just accept it as the way people are.

So, back to the wonderful moment yesterday: I was deeply touched that a strange stopped to help me maneuver the stroller down the train stairs. And she smiled! I am grateful to her, and I hope there are more like her out there.

The mall we took the train to yesterday had a large kids' room, where I found this super-fun swing to put Augie in. He loved it!