The woman was right, especially on the way to the doctor. Babies poop, and to penalize a mother for that is really horrible. Shame on the driver. Just open the damn windows!

I'm with Paul. Life is full of poop and unwanted smells. Some can be controlled and some can't. I wouldn't have liked it, but I can understand the rock and hard place-ness of that mom's dilemma. When did society become so wussy?

The problem wasn't hardness.

As someone that is pulling Mr Mom duty right now in a house with a cat box, dog, and 4 month old baby I couldn't imagine what I would've done in this situation. The biggest bi-weekly slop bucket couldn't have solved this poor lady's predicament.

My rage probably would be a very similar reaction to whenever someone asks me about the current garbage communism in Portland, but this time with access to vent on someone.

Do people not realize that life is full of poop, and we've all been up the creek without a paddle?

This kind of conflict is to be expected as the heavy handed central planners decide to force the population into public transportation.

As the social planners eliminate other transportation options, the rest of us are forced to ride buses not only with merely stinky diapered babies on the way to the doctor, but CONTAGIOUS patients on THEIR way to the doctor.

Just another example of the unintended consequences of "progressive" social engineering.

11 month old in the house here. Pulling Mr. Mom duty since Feb when my wife went back to work and I chose to be a stay-at-home / work-at-home (part-time) Father.

Have to side with the Mom here, especially how they were on their way to the doctor's office. Q: Why does public transportation exist? A: To get people from point A to point B, even if that means you have a child with bowel problems and need to take them to the doctor.

To those saying she's in the wrong: should she have taken a taxi? Perhaps called an ambulance for a lift? I'm fairly certain if she had someone she could have relied on to give her a lift (family member or friend), she would have. I don't think her thought process was, "I have this child with a bowel problem; that makes me really want to take the bus!" I'm sure she was dreading it as most of us would be if we were in that situation. But if public transportation is your only option... then it's your only option.

Also - agree with everyone else. Life is full of wonderful and... not so wonderful smells. I feel like those who have rolled up their sleeves and actually changed a full diaper on a baby don't think poop or pee really is a big deal. For those that haven't, maybe they do. I certainly remember before I was a father the thought of changing diapers wasn't a pleasant one. Now? I'm not chomping at the bit to change my daughter's diaper but it certainly isn't any kind of big deal.

She was taking her sick child to the doctor using public transit. She was doing everything she was supposed to.

Father of three and former "transit" rider here. Going with the driver. It's a matter of public safety. That nauseating stench could have caused the driver to crash and kill everybody. Poop coulda leeked onto the floor and somebody slipped in it. Terrible. And then that person would be suing the taxpayers. All mom had to do was get off the bus, change the diaper and get back on the next one. No biggie - except for the blowout in the kid's diaper. That's a huge stink.

ltjd wrote:

This kind of conflict is to be expected as the heavy handed central planners decide to force the population into public transportation ... Just another example of the unintended consequences of "progressive" social engineering.

This. Reminds me of that brainwash-a-rific Portland Plan video. If you can't go there by the public transit we mandate for you, then it probably isn't legal activity. And cartoons don't smell.

Want everybody inside the same conveyance? Deal with the smell... now you simply cannot kick people off, rather like how hospitals cannot deny medical services at the Emergency Department.

Part of taking the bus, or living in an apartment, or in the city in general, is that one must deal with the great unwashed masses.

Deal with it.