Every school day we wake up early, get ready for school and then, with our neighbors from across the street, walk to school. K and the boy across the street have been in the same class since their first year of pre-school so this had been a routine for about 4 years. It’s a good thing. We’re not driving that short distance to the school (a little less than half a mile). We’re encouraging personal responsibility and we can reinforce safety learning as we all walk together. As they run along the sidewalks we make sure that they’re stopping to check that cars aren’t backing out of driveways and they stop at every corner to cross with us. We live in a pretty residential neighborhood but there are a few streets that have shops and restaurants all along them.
We have to cross one of those streets everyday.
At this street there are School Crossing signs on the corners and a well painted crosswalk, though there are no crossing lights.
This morning yet another in a long line of complete human garbage decided that getting across that intersection 5 seconds sooner while blabbing away on his cell phone was more important than my continued existence. This would piss me off any day… But I had K with me so I skipped right over angry and onto blood boiling righteous soul stomping anger.
This is what happened: We got to the corner just like we do every School morning. We stopped and looked all 4 ways (it is a 4 way intersection). I’m trying to describe this and it’s getting hard… let’s draw a diagram…
See that guy I wrote nasty things about? After everyone else stopped and waited for us to cross he was still down at the previous intersection. We (K, her friend, his mom, his little brother and I) headed into the street smiling and nodding to the drivers who had stopped but keeping an eye on the cars all the way. As we were about to leave the first lane we crossed I stopped to double check the second lane when I saw asshole deluxe guy on his cellphone looking right at us SPEED UP to cross the intersection before we finished crossing the street. He came within 2 feet of us (as I had stopped and pulled K back).
What a charming piece of fucking shit. You’ll forgive me, there were children present and I kept all obscenities inside, merely waving my gloved hand at the craptastic asswipe Caucasian male perp driving a white station wagon as he went along his merry non braking way. When we got across moments later the woman who had been waiting for us to cross before she turned rolled her window down and commiserated with me, she congratulated me on muffling any foul words before they came out of my mouth.
And that was that. I took K to school, got her into her classroom, walked home, crossed that same intersection very carefully, came home, got Mike’s coffee, water, vitamins and brief case into the car, told him what happened, called the police and then sat down to write this lovely post.
What, oh… yeah I totally called the police because this is SO not the first time this has happened. To others. To me. Hell, it wasn’t even the first time it’s happened in the last month.
I had to call their information line to get the right number (no I didn’t call 911). If you’re in Portland and this kind of shit happens to you or someone you know give the police a call and report it. This is the number for traffic crimes *503 823-7233 call and leave a message.
I was hoping this little rant would make me feel better, but eh… not so much. Instead I’m just kind of hungry for breakfast, needing a cup of tea and really hoping that the traffic crimes department calls me back…
*not for traffic crimes in process… if you are in traffic and are experiencing a real emergency please dial 911… now I totally feel like the voivemail for the police or my doctor’s office
CamiKaos 
Oh I am totally using that number. I don’t know why it is but people take a certain delight in cutting off cyclists going straight when they NEED to make a right. And I love it when people speed up when Arch and I need to cross.
Completely impressed with your restraint, not sure I could have done that (I’ve been known to tap vehicles that try to intimidate me with their vehicular qualities.
My heart is even racing in sympathy right now. Wow.
that is sick and wrong that the stupid individual thought it was okay to do that. I hope that you were able to see his liscence plate, because he deserves a ticket, at the very least. Or in some kind of poetic justice, a month working as a crossing guard would do nicely….
bastard.
sadly I was unable to get his plate number… it happened too quickly.
Dude. I’d have pounded on the hood of that car, no problem. What a dickhead.
I don’t care if the kids are with me. I scream foulness. I hit cars. I do what needs to be done since there is never, ever anything else that CAN be done.
I’m actually seriously thinking of getting a paintball gun for these people.
Did you get his plate number?
Oh man, that sucks. I have a similar situation in my neighborhood in which there is about 1/3 mile of busy road between one part of the neighborhood – the part I live in – and the “good stuff” – the running trails, the swimming pool, etc. So I have to either a) get in my car and drive to go running, or b) run in the grass because my HOA is too cheap to put up a sidewalk right there (although they have no problem spending thousands of dollars on new signage or plants at the front entrance. Maybe it’s a county thing; who knows.) All I know is when I take my dogs running, that one 3 minute strip makes me question my survival every time.
when oh when oh when will they make cell phones illegal to talk on while driving? lawn darts are illegal, why not cell phones being used in cars?
what? it is?
someone should totally tell that dude.
with a sharp object.
LOOOOVE the drawing. :) nice arrowing. :)
Sorry baby, sorry that it almost happen, again, but so happy that ,once again, they missed. Having witnessed that corner myself I know what it is like. They really need a traffic light at that corner.
Your only other alternate routes are less safe then that street. Even after they directed all the walkers to one corner it hasn’t helped.
My best advise is, says your prayers, tuck your tail and cross cautiously.
On second thought, set a dozen eggs out in the sun for a week, and carry one or two at a time for just that kind a situation. It won’t help, they’ll probably call the police on you, but at least you could smile all the way to jail.
You could choose that as a topic for Strange Love Live, maybe find a friendly neighbor traffic cop to come in for a chat?
What an asshat. I hate people like that. They always seem to be on the phone too, because they are so much more important than anyone else.