I was thinking of my recent 'dissatisfactions' (being a pedestrian, I am dissatisfied with careless drivers and -with 'the system'---the club whose members defend them right-or-wrong, largely on the 'logic' that "that's how The System works"). I've been bringing those dissatisfactions to forums, hoping for some help in building my argument against 'Them'; but I find that--for the most-part--responders are (or want to be) members of the club, so the dialogue changes from 'building the argument' into "telling the troll to stop grumbling about noisy machines rolling over the bridge." But this Sunday'sLog In showed me that it might not be the drivers who are to blame. The story told of a police-officer--licensed Keeper of the Peace--who FELL ASLEEP AT THE WHEEL OF A CAR HE WAS DRIVING! It's the vehicles themselves! Maybe they are not conscious of the effects of their operations, but their human operators are unwittingly slapping on blindfolds & earmuffs as they charge that fire-breathing lump down the road! Most drivers think NOTHING of jumping into their vehicle and taking-off before the morrning coffee has kicked-in. They're heading-down the road at 50-60 miles-an-hour, still logy & lethargic from the last night. And the vehicle's cabin isn't helping that much---it makes the morning basically 'rolling off the sofa & back into the easy-chair,' the surroundings as you drive being 'removed' like it's a video-game. How DARE lawmakers LET drivers operate such machines (Shouldn't ONE death be enough?)? What can we do about it?
I don't think that anyone is against you here, my friend. I'm certainly not. The thing is that I'm certainly not against drivers. I'm one myself, and I've made mistakes driving, just as everyone else has. I make an effort to be as careful as possible and to watch out for pedestrians, and I think everyone else should as well. I think those who don't should face serious consequences. At the same time, pedestrians can't just dart out in front of traffic without expecting a bad experience. EVERYONE has to be careful and respectful of one another.
But they license drivers! To me, that means that the time to 'make mistakes' is when you are NOT driving; when you ARE driving, you are a "representative" of the group that GAVE you the license! That is what I hope to see when I go to the road ... the way I'm told they do it in Europe (where--I hear--drivers show extra caution around pedestrians who're within a jump's distance from the curb---even if they NEVER go out in the street ) But when I'm standing on the edge of the street waiting to cross, and I see cars (which had PLENTY of time to stop & let me cross) ZOOM by as if I'm NOT EVEN THERE ... makes me wish the DMV sanctioned bags-of-throwing-rocks to pedestrians like me. Not only does that take my rage out on violators, but I imagine that 'seeing someone out there with a big, "licensed" bag-of-rocks to hurl at violators' makes one think twice before BECOMING a violator
I don't think I have ever met someone this angry at every day drivers. I drive my car everywhere and rarely walk. It's more convenient for me and I'll admit, I will zoom past people before I let them cross the street- as many other drivers will. Majority of the time I do this it's because pedestrians either aren't paying attention and simply just stand there or their light hasn't turned for them to cross yet. I'm wondering though...why are you not driving a vehicle? There's nothing wrong with walking, but I am just curious.
Would you be paying enough attention to STOP if a pedestrian walked into your path? Maybe you would, but I don't want to test it! But especially when it's super-hot or -cold out, and the interiors of these hell-machines so stupefy the drivers that they fool themselves into thinking that it's just as comfy-cozy OUTSIDE the car as it is inside. If I have to wait more than 5 seconds with no cars stopping, it makes me want to scream (like an undead banshee in the fires of Hell), "I DO NOT WANT TO BE STANDING HERE! STOOOOOOP, YOU ... MEANIES!!!" And why I walk? Well, it's good for you (when it's NOT super-hot or -cold). And when it IS super-hot or -cold, I walk (if no one can give me a ride) because I'm legally blind (besides near-sighted, I got a blind-spot in my left eye from my brain-injury.
