Walking across roads
I live close to a busy corner. On one side of the street is a shopping complex which has the grocery store in it. On the other side is a pub that's open 24-hours.
The way the traffic is timed, there's a point where the traffic going east is stopped with a red light, but the traffic going west still has a green. The intent is to allow people coming from the west to be able to turn right across the traffic. (Yes, Yank readers, right across traffic, because people drive on the opposite side of the road here.)
Every time I'm at that corner as a pedestrian waiting to cross, I see people just walk out, into the road. They usually walk right out across the stopped east-going traffic, and sometimes the very cluey and coherent ones have checked to make sure there's no west-going traffic speeding up so they can continue sauntering across the whole road even though the walk sign is still red and the rest of us are still standing waiting. But often, often, I see people just walk out, across the stopped east-going traffic and then they just keep going, chest out, head forward, frowning, striding purposeful strides, right out into oncoming speeding cars.
Most they are drunk guys from the pub. Often they are junkies or brain-addled crack addicts. But sometimes they are just guys, tall guys or guys in suits with a middle-aged podge about them, or young guys who look a little wild in the eye. They walk right out.
It's such a male thing to do. They walk right out, like they are more important than the cars, like it's a complete affront to even think they might stop their stride for any obstacle. They puff their chests out, they frown, they stride determinedly, or they stumble ahead in a body-forward manner. How dare you even think they might stop for anything. They plunge right out into very busy, fast, oncoming traffic - and they must know that all the guys in the cars are doing the exact same thing, shifting lanes back and forth so they never have to put on their brakes and beeping at anyone who takes too long to pull away from a green light and dashing through yellow lights - the guys in the cars also feel like it would be a completely insult and affront if they were made to slow their pace for any man or obstacle.
But that's just stupid. Why is it more manly to stride headlong into a 2-ton vehicle (or more, sometimes they are like 30-ton semi-trailers bearing down, and I just have to look away) than to sensibly wait? Why is it more manly to plow your car into an obstacle than to have the finesse to be able to slow that car down?
Maybe the drunk guys and the junkies stride right out into the traffic because they don't have much to live for and actually aren't that fussed if they get mowed down by a car or not.
But that doesn't explain the guys in the cars.
I see this almost every time I cross that street, and I just hold my breath and hope, and I am convinced sometimes there's a little angel looking after each one of those guys, getting him safely across the street, because he's sure too stupid to do it himself.
The way the traffic is timed, there's a point where the traffic going east is stopped with a red light, but the traffic going west still has a green. The intent is to allow people coming from the west to be able to turn right across the traffic. (Yes, Yank readers, right across traffic, because people drive on the opposite side of the road here.)
Every time I'm at that corner as a pedestrian waiting to cross, I see people just walk out, into the road. They usually walk right out across the stopped east-going traffic, and sometimes the very cluey and coherent ones have checked to make sure there's no west-going traffic speeding up so they can continue sauntering across the whole road even though the walk sign is still red and the rest of us are still standing waiting. But often, often, I see people just walk out, across the stopped east-going traffic and then they just keep going, chest out, head forward, frowning, striding purposeful strides, right out into oncoming speeding cars.
Most they are drunk guys from the pub. Often they are junkies or brain-addled crack addicts. But sometimes they are just guys, tall guys or guys in suits with a middle-aged podge about them, or young guys who look a little wild in the eye. They walk right out.
It's such a male thing to do. They walk right out, like they are more important than the cars, like it's a complete affront to even think they might stop their stride for any obstacle. They puff their chests out, they frown, they stride determinedly, or they stumble ahead in a body-forward manner. How dare you even think they might stop for anything. They plunge right out into very busy, fast, oncoming traffic - and they must know that all the guys in the cars are doing the exact same thing, shifting lanes back and forth so they never have to put on their brakes and beeping at anyone who takes too long to pull away from a green light and dashing through yellow lights - the guys in the cars also feel like it would be a completely insult and affront if they were made to slow their pace for any man or obstacle.
But that's just stupid. Why is it more manly to stride headlong into a 2-ton vehicle (or more, sometimes they are like 30-ton semi-trailers bearing down, and I just have to look away) than to sensibly wait? Why is it more manly to plow your car into an obstacle than to have the finesse to be able to slow that car down?
Maybe the drunk guys and the junkies stride right out into the traffic because they don't have much to live for and actually aren't that fussed if they get mowed down by a car or not.
But that doesn't explain the guys in the cars.
I see this almost every time I cross that street, and I just hold my breath and hope, and I am convinced sometimes there's a little angel looking after each one of those guys, getting him safely across the street, because he's sure too stupid to do it himself.
posted by Ellen at 9:11 pm
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