Man who created massive D.C. commuter nightmare had good reason. 5 year old left on platform

[Liberal_in_LA]

turns out that the hapless guy who brought the Washington, D.C., subway system to a halt actually had a pretty good excuse for pulling the emergency release.

The unidentified man left thousands stranded during Tuesday's evening rush hour after he stopped a Green Line train, pried the doors open and ran off with a young girl in tow. Twitter and Facebook lit up with loathing posts, including calls for his execution.

But according to a fellow commuter, the man pulled the cord because his son, who appeared to be about 5 years old, was left standing on the platform when the train doors closed, the Washington Post reported.

"I saw the father was hysterical," said rider Jackie Queen. "Everyone was running to the emergency stop to stop the train … There was probably seven or eight people pulling the emergency stop. Everybody was trying to get him off."


The little boy was screaming and pounding on the door, she said. And the father, accompanied by his daughter, was also banging on the door.

Queen said she saw the child standing by himself. "The fear in his face, in the little boy's face, your heart just really went out to him," said the woman, who was visiting D.C. from Alabama, the paper said.

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/man-halted-metro-traffic-good-excuse-article-1.2303253

[elleng]

1. OH my goodness.

Awful, but not catastrophic. Imagining all the emotions. (I have 2 little grandsons, so it's getting close.)

So much for twitter and facebook. Nothing like ignorance.

[Gormy Cuss]

2. Thank goodness he was able to get off the train

I hope the social media mob is proud of itself.

[rhett o rick]

4. Social is rife with self-righteous bullies. nm

[Igel]

5. Was anybody hurt by the action?

I don't mean "inconvenienced" or "insulted."

Stressed to the point of heart attack or stroke. Stranded so that their blood sugar dropped because they missed food and were diabetic. I mean hurt.

I might let "long-term consequences" slip in. Missed a signing for some legal purpose which, left undone, has really bad consequences.

If so, it's a nice variation on the Trolley Problem.

Most people that stand back and think slow are utilitarian and decide for arguably the best definition of "the common good". Most people that get emotionally involved think fast and sacrifice the common good for a particular person.


But this is also a sad commentary on social trust. Instead of asking a stranger to make sure the kid got on the next train and seeing him off at the next stop, where the father would be waiting--the kid had to be rescued. I understand this. But still find it sad that others couldn't be trusted with his kid, or trusted to see after the kid. Because the assumption is that others are evil or, at best, uncaring.

[mythology]

6. How was he supposed to ask somebody?

The doors were shut and the train was about to move. There wasn't any way to make such an arrangement.

That said, the dad shouldn't have lost track of his kid like that at the subway.

[Gormy Cuss]

7. I find it sadder that other subway passengers were quick to assume that it was self-absorption

before the facts were in.That he didn't trust random strangers to keep his son safe is a lesser issue IMHO.

[PoliticAverse]

3. I remember when they decided to remove the emergency pull cords from NYC Subway trains.

They got tired of people pulling them for no good reason.

[Recursion]

8. I was behind a kid who got stranded at L'Enfant Plaza a few years ago

He got cut off by the door from his dad, who was obviously freaking the hell out. I was standing right behind the kid and shouted "We will be at this exact spot" and put my hands on the kid's shoulder (luckily I was in uniform, which makes that less creepy than it sounds now that I write it) . I can't imagine how scary that must be for a kid.

Moral: step onto the train at the same time your kids do.