Rant of the Day

So, as I'm gearing up for my summer job, I have a LOT of errands to run. In a car.

In no other city that I've ever lived in, have I seen such complete ignorance when it comes to pedestrians--and I lived in Boston, so that's saying a lot. For a city that prides itself on being "green," Seattlites don't deal well with non-drivers.

Here are my gripes:

• There are almost NO pedestrian-only lights downtown. Instead, pedestrians are expected to cross when cars are trying desparately to make right turns, directly into the pedestrians. As a result, during rush-hour (which is pretty much all day here) an average of one car per light can make a turn, and that's generally right as the light turns red, encouraging other cars to plow into them.
  
• Secondly, in an effort to be nice, stupid people in cars will allow pedestrians to cross in front of them in the middle of a busy street, NOT in a crosswalk. This is a dangerous proposition for everyone involved. Drivers have no expectation that people will stop in the middle of a block. In this day of cell phones, in-car mascara application, and coffee obsession, you should not be stopping abruptly in the middle of the street, cause someone might rear-end you. In so doing, they can cause you to smash right into that pedestrian you were trying to "help." This particular phenomenon happened to me twice today. In one example, I almost rear-ended someone who stopped (abruptly) in the middle of a block to let a pedestrian cross over to Starbucks. To the pedestrian, I'd like to say: "Hey dummy, walk the 1/2 block to the crosswalk and cross safely please, or next time, I'll rear-end the car in front of me for giggles."
  
• In places where there are designated bike paths, some cyclists INSIST upon riding on the road. This is also dangerous for everyone. There's a reason we have bike paths. To you cyclists I say: "I get it, you commute on a bike--aren't you super cool. Ride on the bike path when there is one, and ride on the road when there isn't." And all you stupid people walking your dogs on leashes on the part of the "sidewalk" that has a picture of a dude on a bike on it--you deserve to get mown down for your ignorance.

It's called darwinism, and I'd like to see some more of it.

On the other hand, there's an adaptation I've been forced to make in this city in order to preserve my own life that I'm just not happy about. When a light turns green, I find myself waiting and looking around to see if a bus has decided to disregard the red light--again. Today, during my cursory 3 second wait, I watched a double-length bus go from a complete stop on a yellow to "full-speed ahead" after the light turned red. I see this all the time, and there seems to be absolutely no recourse. Bus drivers in this city ignore the light color completely. God forbid a pedestrian took that walk sign literally and stepped out in front of that bus before the driver floored the gas pedal. That would have been an unpleasant start to my day.