"Can we talk about how difficult it is to use public transport with a stroller?" she begins by asking. Her complaint is not limited to the lack of seats available for those who need them. Burillo says that even when the space reserved for strollers is free, she arrives to find other passengers occupying it and refusing to move aside to make room. "People do not even bother to make room for you. They just don’t move," she laments.
The journalist says this is not a new situation for her. She recalls having similar experiences when she was eight months pregnant and needed a seat: "Not a single person would get up to give it to me." Now, with her baby and stroller, she is once again experiencing the same lack of consideration. "Every time I have to use public transport, I get off angry," she admits.
LACK OF EMPATHY
In her reflection, Burillo wonders whether these situations are the result of selfishness, a lack of manners or an increasingly self-absorbed society. Faced with the majority who, she says, seem not to feel concerned, she highlights those who do show consideration: "A kind soul who suddenly looks at you and you realize they understand you," she explains, either because they have gone through the same thing or simply because they are attentive people.
The post has sparked a debate among her followers, many of whom have shared their experiences and shown their support for the journalist. "It is unbelievable that there is so little empathy. I cannot understand it," one user writes. Another suggests that the lack of families with children may contribute to this lack of understanding: "Since nobody has children anymore, nobody knows how difficult it is and they don’t empathize." Others defend responding directly in these situations: "I boldly tell them, just as politely, to move because that space is for strollers."
Some responses also broaden the debate beyond parenting. One person recalls that traveling on public transport in a wheelchair can be "an ordeal," while another points out that three decades ago it was not even possible to board a bus with a baby stroller.
