Another Round of Sanctimony about Peeing?

There is no shortage of judgementalism in the NYC Blogosphere, that's for sure. I was writing so much as a response to The Gowanus Lounge's post on "Return of the Little Park Slope Street Pissers" that I thought I might as well run my thoughts here. I was glad Guskind pointed out that there's some degree of irony in the fact that the woman walking her dog was complaining about a parent letting his child pee on the street. Granted, the child is described as looking to be 8 or so, but you can't judge a child's development by appearances. Some kids are much younger than they look.

I saw a little boy peeing on the corner of 11th and Prospect Park South West yesterday evening. That's not a commercial place, far away from any bathrooms, so I guess his mom had to choose letting him go in public or taking him around with wet pants. Some little kids really can't hold it, especially if they're just starting potty training. Would people prefer we add the unnecessary pull ups they might be wearing to our rank bulging landfills?

I took the gamble myself the other day, and almost let my son go on 14th Street, but made him wait out of fear of causing the next urine-related blog scandal (a. I'm a coward b. my son's getting a little old for that). I told him he could use the bathroom when we got to Petland. When we got there, I had to really push it. They weren't going to let him use the bathroom because the manager of the store was there "and he didn't like that."

This patron appreciates the flexiblity and courage or the store worker who allowed her child into the bathroom, risking managerial reprimand. Give that guy a promotion!

There is some irony in the fact that animals use the street but little kids who perhaps can't hold it become the next target of the sanctimonious when they do. Maybe parents are going to have to start carrying around little pee bottles like truck drivers so as not to be viewed as the scourge of the neighborhood. Then those bottles can get chucked into landfills. Or we could just keep them in the pull ups for a few more years, and we can chuck those in the landfills.

Sometimes I miss the hippies.