I’m in the market for new dining room curtains, so we decided to go to IKEA yesterday morning to look at some of their fabric. We still had CB with us from the Friday night sleepover, so it was me, BAGD and 4 kids. As we made it up to the 3rd floor, I was leading the way and BAGD was bringing up the rear. On the escalator, Pookie ended up a half step behind BAGD and was technically last in line.
The next thing I know, BAGD is yelling and the other 3 kids and I are standing halfway between the escalator and the fabric section looking confused. I look back at the escalator and itsstopped completely. BAGD starts to piece things together and fill me in. Apparently Pookie was not paying attention at the top of the escalator (or was purposely riding all the way to the top until his feet hit the top) and his Croc got caught and sucked in between the stairs of the escalator. BAGD was in front of Pookie as this was happening, but VERY LUCKILY a man behind Pookie had the foresight and good positioning to be able to swat his foot out of the shoe before something very bad happened.
In the end, Pookie’s beloved Cocoa Pebbles Croc was chewed up inside the escalqtor. The escalator stopped and by the time it was all over, only the back 4 inches of his shoe was showing. After close examination by the in-house IKEA Security/EMT man, we confirmed that it was only Pookie’s shoe that was touched. His actual little foot was fine and doesn’t appear to have been injured at all. Pookie was just a little upset and scared. But he handled it well. We were very surprised that he didn’t complain about losing the Croc. Stuff like that is hard for him to accept and understand. But he seemed OK with it, even as we had to make him walk around IKEA in his socks.
The people at IKEA were very nice and helpful. They offered to buy us lunch while Pookie calmed down. I asked them if I could have a pair of those flimsy slippers they sell, so that Pookie could have some shoes to wear home. I explained that he likes things to make sense and he would calm down faster if he had a new pair of shoes to wear. By a strange stroke of luck, IKEA happened to be selling Croc knock offs and gave Pookie a free pair.
When we left over an hour later, the escalator was still stopped, with Pookie’s little shoe peeking out of the top step. I’m not sure if this incident was Pookie’s fault or not. Part of me says yes, it was. But part of me says its just an inherent danger of escalators. Knowing what I do about the way Pookie’s mind works, I assume that he purposely rode all the way to the top of the escalator, until it flattened out and the toes of his shoes hit the threshold at the top. That is something he would do. In his mind, you don’t step off an escalator until it is “done”….just like you don’t leave the theatre until the credits are done or stop eating until the plate is empty. So, he probably had a large part in causing this. But, still, this is probably a flaw in the design of escalator itself.
Another thing pops out in my mind about yesterday. It was another of those emergency situations where I found myself telling 6 people in 15 minutes “He has Autism”. That is always weird for me. But its usually important. Yesterday it was not such a big deal, because he was relatively calm the whole time. But I still felt like I needed to tell everyone, so I did. But, it felt weird.
By the way, IKEA Croc are kind of weird looking, but the kids seem to like them:
{ 10 comments… read them below or add one }
I always knew that escalators were scary! I step off of them about five feet before I have to because I am scared of this very thing happening! Glad Pookie is OK and didn’t lose anything other than a croc!
Escalators scare me. I look ridiculous getting on and off b/c of my fear of them. I’m glad Pookie is okay – just reading about it gave me severe anxiety – don’t know how you and BAGD and Pookie handled it so well.
I know, I didn;t see any of it, only BAGD. That was probably for the best. But it made me feel like a horrible mother!
Hello there… I came across your blog by searching for birth comparisons (and I am pleased to note that you consider your vaginal delivery of the twins more pleasant overall than your section) but anywho… clicking on your homepage led me to this escalator incident which apparently happened just a few days ago. If I could, I would send an emergency alert to parents everywhere about Crocs and Escalators – as you and Pookie learned (thankfully without him losing half his foot!) they don’t get along!! To give you one small example of just how bad this is, my mom is a secretary at an elementary school and 3 years ago in the incoming kindergarten class (about 100 kids) a total of 3 kids (yes 3!!) had all lost toes over the summer from Crocs getting sucked into escalators! Due to this and other reasons why I don’t think Crocs are good for anyone (not supportive, flimsy, etc) my kids have never and never will wear Crocs. But to each his own… so wear them if you will, but please not when you go to places with escalators!!!! Sorry, I know I sound like a raving, anti-Croc, super-opinionated Helicopter Mom, but really I’m just a concerned, easy-going mother of 4 who wishes she could prevent everyone’s toes from coming off in escalators!
Hi, thanks for your comment. I agree its apparently a big issue and I think we are on the same page. I hadn’t really heard about it before, but I don’t read a lot of parenting magazines or anything.
I think in our case it was partly his fault, but also an inherent design flaw in the way escalators work…and the material Crocs are made from. And even if it was technically his fault, it just goes to show you that all of us are subject to the same thing if we don’t pay attention. Plus, its not something you could ever expect ANY kid to think about and prevent. The burden lies on us as parents, just like so many things. Its something I never thought about before it happened to him, but it makes me think about women in open toe sandals too! BAGD took him to the mall tonight to get a new pair of Crocs…and he said they took the stairs heading back to the car!
I’m remembering the escalators that always intrigued me as a kid, because the warning signs included (along with hold the rails and keep feet clear of sides) a prohibition against tennis shoes. When I asked someone, I was told that it was because the big rubber soles could get caught in the cracks and the trendy untied shoelaces of the day were also a danger, but that I didn’t need to worry that everyone had on tennis shoes, because it was just there for liability protection (ha! that’s truly what I remember – but I have lawyers in the family). Since then, I’ve still been interested in those signs, and I occasionally see no tennis shoes signs (along with my favorite, bicycles must be folded-still never seen a foldable bike in real life), but I’m increasingly seeing no Crocs signs on escalators and elsewhere – most recently, all over the Children’s Museum of Houston. They’re not going to stop people (including me!) from wearing them on escalators any more than they stopped people from wearing sneakers in the nineties, but they at least give the elevator owner a chance to say I told you so!
And, off topic, your site is the most mobile-version-friendly I’ve come across. Thanks!
I will tell BAGD! He does all that stuff for me. I’m glad to know its wworth it.
As an Insurance professional, I know that even with a million signs you still can’t escape your liability as a property/business owner. And kids usually have little or no comparable negligence. But I am also interested in seeing how society tries to handle these emerging trends.
Wow. How scary.