Subway jumper?

Ok relax. He din't jump in front of a train.

We were actually on our way out of the subway in London and within sight of the stairs going up from the platform when Aiden spotted some intriguing red buttons spaced at intervals along the wall. All kids love buttons and Aiden is no exception.

Maybe he saw me looking in the same direction too as I was busily reading the large sign nearby which told about the purpose of the device. He must also have seen the neatly drawn picture of someone pressing the button which was right there on the sign. Having read the writing on the wall, I decided to keep my little fireball close to me till we were safely out of the subway. However there were quite a few people on the platform and this hampered our progress. I held his hand tightly, afraid to lose him in the crowd. He was dragging along behind me as we hurried along.

Before I knew what was happening, he had taken calculated control of the whole situation. With perfect timing and grace, he started to run and took a flying leap at one of the buttons as we went by. As I held on tightly, he used my arm like a rope to swing himself around and just close enough to push the button before he landed in front of me and spun the two of us completely around with his momentum. It was a silent alarm he had just triggered. That was what the sign had said.

Trying to look as inconspicuous as possible, we continued walking quietly up the stairs and out of the subway as Aiden curiously watched all the brave security guards hurrying down the stairs in the opposite direction. I hope they weren't too disappointed. It's too bad they missed his smashing aerobatic act!

Have a photo of one of those buttons? Please send me a link.