Ugh. I guess in some ways it is–we still haven’t moved and we love the city– but I often feel like I’m marching through hostile territory. The air horn incident is a not-bad example–it probably doesn’t even occur to the air-horn owner that the blast might be more terrifying than helpful to the kids, if indeed she’s thinking of the kids at all. Another example: Recently a bus driver yelled (yes, yelled) at me for reading a book to my kid. She said it was distracting. In the meantime, a group of teenagers in the back were shouting “fuck” at the top of their lungs. Talk about a crossfire. Another Muni incident: I once broke up a fist fight that started right in front of us–again, it didn’t even occur to these idiots that there was a three-year-old two feet away. I could go on. Many times I’ve seen moms come on the bus holding babies and toddlers, and not a single person gives up his or her seat.

Do these things happen in other urban places? Of course they do. But I have noted a slightly higher number of complaints coming from SF parents than parent-friends in places like NYC, Boston, and Chicago, and I do feel like there’s a social atmosphere that’s inhospitable to kids, more of a kind of obliviousness.