My apologies for the photo here being a bit grainy- but it's not too bad for one taken while travelling 20mph or so. It was taken as my vehicle was in the roadway- where vehicles have historically been known to travel. The man, woman and small children featured here seemed to have known that vehicles belong in the roadway, too- as they paused in the median strip of this 6-lane thoroughfare and waited for a safe time to make their break for the other side of the street.
Soapbox Alert! Over the 42+ years of my life, there haven't really been a great deal of things that categorically frustrate me or get under my skin- pet peeves, if you will. I do admit to a strange aversion to certain words (I hate and refuse to utter "smoothie", "hoodie", "fuscia" or any goofball name Starbucks has assigned to their small, medium and large drinks), but for the most part the most annoying thing in my life has been able-bodied folks that park in handicapped spots. I think that'll forever annoy me- especially as the neuropathy in my leg worsens in my older years and need one of those spots myself when parking gets tough at the Golden Corrall or the mall at Christmas time, but I digress.
This photo and the all-too-common practice it represents is more than a personal annoyance, though: it's ignorant, moronic and deadly dangerous. I've been around the world (literally) a few times and lived in places rural, urban and in-between- but I've never seen anything as disturbing as this practice. All day, every day...crosswalks mean nothing in Orlando- unless some activist group wants to blame the fact that some wthin our population are fat on the lack of them in one particular area of town or another.
Pedestrian deaths are real- and preventable if law enforcement here would take the matter seriously. Don't believe me? Google any variation of "Orlando", "pedestrian", "death" and "sidewalk" for a shocking surprise. Do a bit more research and uncover more than 17 deaths in the area in the past 7-8 months that explicitly reflect the deceased was attempting a crossing akin to the folks in this photo. An elderly man in a wheelchair struck down rolling across traffic, an elderly lady running in the street towards a bus, 12 and 17-year-old sisters in the street, and the list continues. Many deaths with no excuses.
The public (especially any folks with an ingrained entitlement mentality to begin with) will do what they're allowed to do- and one of the duties police are charged with is an obligation to "protect the public"- and at many times from themselves. I have been a friend of law enforcement for a number of years and will continue to hold those that hold the Thin Blue Line in high regard as they, like our military, put their lives on the line for yours and mine every day. There's also little doubt budgets are thin and resources are limited. Murders, robberies and rapes must all be attended to as perhaps police's higher priorities.
But when the time for speed traps, the ticketing of panhandlers and the booking of prostitutes for their 5th offenses allows, wouldn't it be a good idea to try and save some lives by inserting at least a short break in the deadly examples folks above and others like them exhibit? Not all family traditions are good ones.
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