Amy Sohn

"I didn’t hate them for being married when I wasn’t or for breeding when I hadn’t. I hated their expansiveness, the way they seemed to take over whatever environment they were in."

Interesting read.

I love how Sohn is so self-aware -- at one point, she writes: "We had become Them." We see her wrestling with it throughout the piece, and that's awesome.

I like this quote too:

“There are two sects of people,” says Elora Cosper, a 33-year-old space designer in the East Village. “One group has children and adores them and expects everyone else to get onboard with how adorable the kids are, even when they’re being inappropriate in public places. The other group likes kids but can’t tolerate parents who can’t control them. No matter how disruptive the child is being, if you address the parent, she will jump down your throat.”

Sometimes there really is this tiered system. You're just expected to Understand.

Hey, look. I'm in awe of the job parents have to do. That's why I've chosen not to do it. And that's just it. I haven't chosen to be a parent. That means I shouldn't always be called on to understand.

Later Sohn talks more about the sharing of public space in a transforming city:

"Part of what is at issue in this tug-of-war is the changing nature of public space in the city. Self-employed freelancers can now earn a living entirely in cafés, conducting business on laptops and cell phones at the same Tea Lounges and Starbucks where new mothers congregate to discuss mastitis and Maisy books."

I have just as little tolerance for the freelancers who take up six tables and yammer on their cell phones while others are trying to find a place to relax. I really try to not be that person. I take one table, am courteous with my power cord and other tech acoutrements (not that there's many of them), and am well known by my friends for being just about unreachable by cell phone. And as Sohn notes in another article: the only thing worse than a loud-parent jerk (her words, not mine) is a loud cell-phone jerk.

I don't know. Maybe I have a weird funny bone about all this.