As a “head’s up” I’m done. Next week will be my last post. Check it out to learn why. I’ve had several posts brewing since I started this endeavor. In fact, I’m throwing everything that’s left (save the big finale) at you now. Here are all of the unfinished posts I had in the chamber that I was waiting to unload on my unsuspecting reader, because I’m pretty sure there’s just one.
Here they are, with brief, instead of fully developed, diatribes:
Leveling the Playing Field
When drivers need to make someone aware of egregious actions (i.e. running a red light or changing lanes when there’s already a car in the way) they have a horn, but what do pedestrians have? Their larynx? I know noise ordinances are out there, but how can we compete with a mechanical horn to let drivers know of their transgressions? I’m going to start a campaign to carry a vuvuzela and blast it anytime I feel put upon.
Rise Up Fellow Pedestrians
I remember hearing a crazy statistic years ago. It claimed the average American walked less than a quarter of a mile (400 yards) daily. Here’s a story from the United Kingdom’s Independent, dated from 1998 mentioning the same research. Until this trend is reversed, pedestrians will continue to be treated like second class citizens (see what would have been the next post).
Get out and get some exercise. Getting from point A to point B can be invigorating. It doesn’t need to be an exercise in futility. In fact, it can be, wait for it, EXERCISE! I know, this is a novel concept in a country that has seen expanding waistlines for the past several decades. You know, if more people walked (or lived in areas where you could walk) we might just be a little healthier, me included.
Putting Pedestrians First
Why are pedestrians second class citizens? Until laws are written to favor pedestrians and cars are forced to yield to us – yeah, they are “supposed” to, but that doesn’t happen in reality – cars do whatever they want, and with impunity. It’s time pedestrian focused lobbyists start working the system to put pedestrians ahead of vehicular traffic. A walk sign means I get to go, you wait.
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