JUST how “friendly” must a “family friendly” store be? Our local Barnes and Noble was accused last month of not being friendly enough — despite allowing parents to treat its downstairs like a library and even providing a large train set for kids to play with — after posting a sign asking parents to check their strollers at the door rather than going downstairs with them.
“Due to overcrowding, strollers are NOT allowed downstairs,” the sign said. “Please park your stroller in the designated area on the first floor.”
Check our strollers! Heaven forbid that we Park Slope parents might have to do something even slightly inconvenient in the name of the greater good.
Indeed, parent outrage about the supposed new regulation was swift and furious: many complained to the management, but even more vented their frustrations on the Park Slope Parents Web site, which has the free-speech vitality of London’s Speakers Corner, but often adds the venom of talk radio.
Naturally, after the people of the People’s Republic of Park Slope had spoken, the sign was taken down.
Too bad. It turns out that the sign on the door was just a suggestion, said Carolyn Brown of Barnes and Noble. The store was trying to address the traffic jam that occurs, especially on cold or rainy days when the stroller set descends (literally and figuratively) on the downstairs kids’ area. Brown said the store simply wanted to tell parents that there was a safe spot to leave the buggies on the first floor.
No good deed ever goes unpunished. But I think Brown and her overly friendly minions would have been completely justified if they opened a can of Parent Whup all over Park Slope. The Maclaren-jam is only part of the problem that the store faces as it tries to balance its family friendly atmosphere with safety and cleanliness.
Let’s face it, the children’s section of that store is a mess — and it’s our fault, not Brown’s.
I was in the children’s department on a cold weekend day last month and the place was packed with kids playing with the train set in one corner, sitting on the stage in the other, and camped out everywhere in between. Kids were pulling books off the shelves and stomping on them. Parents were ignoring their young charges and leaving the books on the floor when they left. Books were flung about everywhere, bent and ripped. It was chaos.
The woman who works that area was clearly overwhelmed. At one point, she called security. Yes, they posted a security guard in the children’s section to deter people from letting their kids pull books off the shelves and leaving the mess behind.
Good for them! If parents can’t even be bothered to leave their strollers upstairs, perhaps the presence of a security guard will at least deter their kids from throwing books all over.
It is in Barnes and Noble’s best interest to stay family friendly. But how friendly must it be?
The good news, of course, is that the stroller-driven life is a short period of parenthood. Soon enough, the buggies disappear from your life. Come to think of it, my kids don’t even go to the children’s section anymore. There is something even more frightening than a stroller policy at Barnes and Noble: the teen section!
The Kitchen Sink
Gabriela Montero, the piano virtuoso who was seen on “60 Minutes” last December, has been spotted around the Slope. Her hang-out is sometimes the Two Little Red Hens, where part of the taping for the once-popular news magazine was done. …
Set your calendars: The Grand Army Plaza Coalition, which is trying to turn this circular speedway into a nice place to relax, is hosting a “community planning workshop” on March 10 at the Brooklyn Public Library’s central branch on, conveniently enough, Grand Army Plaza. To attend, email rsvp@grandarmyplaza.org by the end of the month. …
No parent’s CD collection is complete without “Park Slope Parents: The Album (Vol. 1),” a new compendium of tracks from once-hip moms and dads who traded in their guitars for Garanimals. It’s a true neighborhood affair, with songs by local heroes Dan Zanes, John Carlin, the Deedle Deedle Dees, and the Sign-a-Song singers. Mo Willems (“Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus”) even did the artwork! The album costs $18.98 at local stores, but it’s for a good cause. Info? Go to http://cd.parkslopeparents.org. …
The Park Slope Jewish Center and Kolot Chayeinu congregations launched a campaign last week to promote the rights of “domestic workers.” The synagogues want to get better pay and benefits for the 200,000 downtrodden nannies, housecleaners and eldercare-givers throughout the city. How about we start by not calling them “domestics” anymore? …
The Park Slope Singers are looking for some fresh vocal chords. All you have to do is show up (and, eventually, pay dues). The group rehearses every Monday night at 7:30 in the basement of St. Saviour’s Church, on Eighth Avenue and Sixth Street. Get there before Feb. 26, or you’ll have to wait until the next semester to join.
