Does being crazy make people poor, or does being poor make people crazy?
A qustion that I have wondered about for many years because there is no question that many, if not most, poor people are crazy.
I became crazed once at the corner of Howell Branch Road and SR-436 when I attempted to use the marked crosswalk there. Cars turning right on green refused to let me cross until I acted like a crazy person (act the fool, as it were) screaming and yelling at them, literally jumping up and down, pointing at the light, the walk signal and the crosswalk until finally a fellow stopped and let me cross, giving me a smile and a wave, which I returned.
Lest you think the other drivers were just clueless fools, I must report that some pretended not to see me and the others saw me trying to cross, jutted their jaw and gunned the gas.
I complained to Mighk, who launched an investigation as to whether it was an engineering problem, but it wasn’t, so the complaint went on to the Casselberry Police Department, who sent me a very nice email, but no action has been taken that I can see.
One more lesson that the minority gets little, if any attention. And if I deserve so little attention, I sure wish these people would pay my $5,000 a year property tax bill, ’cause I sure get tired of paying a larger tax bill than my neighbors and being mistreated to boot.
I am glad to know I am not the only person who has had to resort to some form of yelling/dancing/pointing just to cross the road. I am convinced that drivers here don’t know they are supposed to let you cross the road. I can’t imagine that everyone is just being mean.
Nellie, I think you’re right. I did an informal poll of friends and found that a surprising number did not know they were required to yield to a ped in a crosswalk. They thought that was just where peds are allowed to cross the street.
I’ve also had people tell me, “I was in [insert city/state] this summer and they have a law that requires motorists to yield to peds… we need that here” They had no idea that law is part of the UVC and every state has it, including Florida.
I have always thought that the obvious markings made it clear that the area was special/obvious/visible, and it seems like it should be intuitive that you don’t run over people trying to get across the road, so I have never really been able to put my finger on why it happens. Even if there wasn’t a law. Shouldn’t it almost go without say that in a place clearly marked as an obvious potential conflict area you would not proceed without looking first? All I know is I always assume they won’t stop and I look at the driver before I walk in front of their car, sometimes I have to point, it always seems like an adventure thats for sure.