The Middle of the Road

If you watch what people do, you’d think that traffic laws are pretty bizarre. For instance, I could swear that there’s a law somewhere that says that you can park anywhere you like as long as your emergency flashers are on. This includes being able to block a whole lane of traffic in a snowstorm if you’re visiting someone and can’t find a parking space. Have your flashers on? You’re parked! One of the most nerve-wracking, though, is “pedestrians have the right of way”. Nobody seems to understand what this really means. Pedestrians think that it means they can do anything they want. Cross against the light? Sure! If someone almost hits you, well, just flip them an obscene gesture. You have the right of way. Stand in the middle of the road? Sure. Why not? If you have nothing better to do, cross the street halfway and then just stand there for a while. Streets are wide. It’s exhausting to cross the whole thing at one go. And it’s SUCH a long way to the corners. I have actually seen — and MORE THAN ONCE! — people doing handsprings down the middle of the street. There’s an arrogance to people who do this that’s really hard to stomach. Especially the high school kids who just walk into traffic in large groups, weaving in and out of moving cars. For a while, the city police were giving $200 tickets to the kids for jaywalking. Of course, as you might imagine, the parents put a stop to that really fast. I have to say — crossing guards are annoying. But since they’ve all been let go due to budget cuts, I have to say that I miss them. At least there was SOME order in the chaos.