The Pedestrian


It has become more and more apparent that I am a pedestrian. The longer I am without a car and not driving the more I feel the menace of cars. At every intersection a car is bearing down upon me. At every stop sign one must stop and wait for the speeding car with the driver so driven by haste.

I am the pedestrian who can see the pecking order. Trucks first. Cars. Motorcycles. Bicycles. Then people on foot. And last the creatures that are without legal representation, the cats, dogs, Iguanas, Black birds etc.

There was a post on a friend's facebook page about stupid tourists walking in the middle of the street, or "jumping out in front of my car". And I remember being there, feeling the irritation of people who walk in front of cars in India. Or when I lived in Massachusetts.

But also I remember feeling the danger of cars when riding my bike on the Cape. And the glee with which drivers would honk their horn at night to scare night bicyclists.

Each time we think of "the other" whether the other is the opposite sex, or poor (rich), or Chinese (or American) we are separating ourselves from our own selves.

Right now I am the pedestrian. Oh Creator! Help me to remember the pedestrian when I start driving again!