Debacles of Pedestrianism: Why the city of Chicago gives out tickets to pedestrians too
...I don't think "pedestrianism" is a real word, but it sounds nice.
This was supposed to be posted last Saturday, but I forgot about it until something happened yesterday, which I'll get to later. Either way, let's see three cases in point, all occurring at about 3pm Saturday afternoon, at the intersection of Devon and California.
1. I see two people walking west on Devon, approaching California on the south side of the street. They appear to be crossing the street, but while the walk signal was on, they stood at the corner, giggling and joking about something. The red hand starts blinking, still no movement. It turns red and traffic on Devon starts turning to get out the intersection... when they decide that, "Hey, maybe we should cross the street now?" So they do a lazy jog across the street as cars start to move, earning honks and a parade of irate drivers and their middle fingers as they trudged across California. And they decide to do it again while crossing north on Devon!! Well at least they went on the walk signal going back across California... Yes, you heard me correctly, those assholes did all that just to make one big fuckin' U-turn back onto Devon going the other way they had walked on the opposite side of the street. Great.
2. A few minutes after that incident, I see an old mother being led by presumably her daughter or granddaughter north on California, on the other side of the bus stop. First off, the daughter is literally dragging the poor old lady across the California, jaywalking of course. It reminded me of pets being pulled forcibly by its owner when they don't cooperate. And they have the nerve to cut in front of the bus stop and bump into me, while asking me to "watch out for senior citizens". Then they have to cross back on California for whatever reason, back onto the side they were walking on. Inexplicably, they have the walk signal, but they wait until it starts flashing before they make their move. They also decide against using the crosswalk and cross in the middle of the street. And of course, they get caught in oncoming traffic when they can't get across in time, holding up traffic and drawing expletives and ire from drivers. Peachy. Apparently, people near Devon must be like bulls; they only walk when they see red... wtf?!
3. Also, there's a new, hip way to flag down a bus!!! While waiting for an eternity for my bus to get here, I saw a Devon bus make its way eastbound and make a routine stop. I also see a young man walking west on the north side of Devon, just strolling about and making his way to wherever he needed to go. The bus stops, drops off its passengers and picks up quite a few more. As the bus gets the green and starts scooting away, the man, who was just getting to the intersection, suddenly starts to make a mad dash into the middle of the street, waving his arms like he was trying to grab a police car. All traffic comes to a halt as the fucker runs in front of the bus, ignoring the fact that he may have lost his life if all the cars at the intersection didn't have working brake pads. I shook my head as the bus driver yelled at the man as he boarded the bus.
So there you have it. Many people think that downtown is a haven for bad pedestrians who don't obey simple traffic signals and laws. Well, they're right. It's just that it also happens to be all over Chicago as well, especially Devon avenue. But it was the first time that I've seen stupidity this rampant around my area, heh.
Even yesterday, I was about to die... TWICE. No, literally. I walk across my own street, right at the stop sign, when I see this SUV is driving down it. I'm at the middle of my walk when I realize that the car isn't slowing down for the stop sign (or rather, neither the driver nor the passenger are looking forward), so I literally had to step across in one great stride as the driver finally realized it had to stop. The bumper just grazed my shoe, luckily. The passengers were apologetic, but I didn't care. I told them to watch where the fuck they were going and pointed vehemently to the stop sign. But I had to get to work, so I decided to leave it at that.
But yet again, right at Devon, yet again, I get the walk signal across a side street as Devon's east-west traffic gets the go. Suddenly, some dude in a station wagon turns left and honks as he tries to turn left through me! I jump out the way as his side mirror hits my backpack. He then stops the car, and yells at me in an European accent to walk faster as he holds down his horn. I told him to eat shit and not to run me over. Luckily, I managed to chuck a decent-sized rock at his car and at least dent his trunk, although I was aiming for his windshield. He stopped and starting shouting again, but at this point, his accent took over and I couldn't understand a word he said, so I walked off to work.
Now I don't trust any drivers on any road in Chicago. You better believe it when I say that I'll look both ways while crossing a one-way street now.
This was supposed to be posted last Saturday, but I forgot about it until something happened yesterday, which I'll get to later. Either way, let's see three cases in point, all occurring at about 3pm Saturday afternoon, at the intersection of Devon and California.
1. I see two people walking west on Devon, approaching California on the south side of the street. They appear to be crossing the street, but while the walk signal was on, they stood at the corner, giggling and joking about something. The red hand starts blinking, still no movement. It turns red and traffic on Devon starts turning to get out the intersection... when they decide that, "Hey, maybe we should cross the street now?" So they do a lazy jog across the street as cars start to move, earning honks and a parade of irate drivers and their middle fingers as they trudged across California. And they decide to do it again while crossing north on Devon!! Well at least they went on the walk signal going back across California... Yes, you heard me correctly, those assholes did all that just to make one big fuckin' U-turn back onto Devon going the other way they had walked on the opposite side of the street. Great.
2. A few minutes after that incident, I see an old mother being led by presumably her daughter or granddaughter north on California, on the other side of the bus stop. First off, the daughter is literally dragging the poor old lady across the California, jaywalking of course. It reminded me of pets being pulled forcibly by its owner when they don't cooperate. And they have the nerve to cut in front of the bus stop and bump into me, while asking me to "watch out for senior citizens". Then they have to cross back on California for whatever reason, back onto the side they were walking on. Inexplicably, they have the walk signal, but they wait until it starts flashing before they make their move. They also decide against using the crosswalk and cross in the middle of the street. And of course, they get caught in oncoming traffic when they can't get across in time, holding up traffic and drawing expletives and ire from drivers. Peachy. Apparently, people near Devon must be like bulls; they only walk when they see red... wtf?!
3. Also, there's a new, hip way to flag down a bus!!! While waiting for an eternity for my bus to get here, I saw a Devon bus make its way eastbound and make a routine stop. I also see a young man walking west on the north side of Devon, just strolling about and making his way to wherever he needed to go. The bus stops, drops off its passengers and picks up quite a few more. As the bus gets the green and starts scooting away, the man, who was just getting to the intersection, suddenly starts to make a mad dash into the middle of the street, waving his arms like he was trying to grab a police car. All traffic comes to a halt as the fucker runs in front of the bus, ignoring the fact that he may have lost his life if all the cars at the intersection didn't have working brake pads. I shook my head as the bus driver yelled at the man as he boarded the bus.
So there you have it. Many people think that downtown is a haven for bad pedestrians who don't obey simple traffic signals and laws. Well, they're right. It's just that it also happens to be all over Chicago as well, especially Devon avenue. But it was the first time that I've seen stupidity this rampant around my area, heh.
Even yesterday, I was about to die... TWICE. No, literally. I walk across my own street, right at the stop sign, when I see this SUV is driving down it. I'm at the middle of my walk when I realize that the car isn't slowing down for the stop sign (or rather, neither the driver nor the passenger are looking forward), so I literally had to step across in one great stride as the driver finally realized it had to stop. The bumper just grazed my shoe, luckily. The passengers were apologetic, but I didn't care. I told them to watch where the fuck they were going and pointed vehemently to the stop sign. But I had to get to work, so I decided to leave it at that.
But yet again, right at Devon, yet again, I get the walk signal across a side street as Devon's east-west traffic gets the go. Suddenly, some dude in a station wagon turns left and honks as he tries to turn left through me! I jump out the way as his side mirror hits my backpack. He then stops the car, and yells at me in an European accent to walk faster as he holds down his horn. I told him to eat shit and not to run me over. Luckily, I managed to chuck a decent-sized rock at his car and at least dent his trunk, although I was aiming for his windshield. He stopped and starting shouting again, but at this point, his accent took over and I couldn't understand a word he said, so I walked off to work.
Now I don't trust any drivers on any road in Chicago. You better believe it when I say that I'll look both ways while crossing a one-way street now.