There is something that I’ve noticed about jaywalking busy intersections which I call “The Sidewalk Suicide Pact.” Pedestrians are stranded on either side of the street, cemented in place by the glaring red hand of the crosswalk light. The road seems clear-ish, but they can see that cars are coming, and that though there MIGHT be enough time to scurry across, there is also a chance that they will miscalculate the distance/speed, and will hugely inconvenience some driver when they splatter across his windshield.
The side-walked citizens are uncertain,”Should I risk dying if it means being able to buy a hot dog from a street vendor two minutes sooner? Am I going to die from eating the hot dog anyways?” Nobody on either side of the street is making a move, and meanwhile, the scurrying-across window is quickly closing.
When it seems like everyone is just going to wait an extra thirty seconds, some people make quick eye contact from across the street, in which they essentially have the following silent conversation: ”I’ll go if you go/they can’t kill all of us/that’s a nice sweater you’re wearing/why thank you, I bought it on sale.”
Once it is decided that everyone is going to go for it, both sides flood the crosswalk, as the person in the car that they’re blocking is thinking, “man, if I were to hit one or two of them, it would be okay, and I’d be able to drive to the hot dog place sooner, but I don’t think I could forgive myself if I hit three strollers worth of babies.”
Classic man vs. steel/a metaphorical proletariat revolution of sorts in action.
(via janiemoe)
janiemoe reblogged this from janiemoe and added: I wrote this when I first moved to NYC. Though it was meant to be funny, I think now, about three years later, it’s more...
wmhunter reblogged this from janiemoe