Tuesday, September 21, 2004

Boston Cops Come Through

Do you know you are supposed to yield to pedestrians in a crosswalk? At least in Boston, this is the law. Today I crossed in a crosswalk and a car came bearing down on me, with the driver honking the horn and shouting at me. I encounter this often enough that I generally point at the bright white area called the crosswalk and say pleasantly, "It's a crosswalk." And the driver response: "Get off the road, moron." It's a standard urban exchange, part of the patter of urban life that one probably longs for when one moves to the country along with the sound of jackhammers on concrete and ambulance sirens.

Today was like any other, except once I had gotten on the sidewalk and continued on my way and my fellow driver on his, a woman standing on the sidewalk laughed and said, "He's busted." I turned around and sure enough, one of our city's finest had seen the exchange. Our pal was obviously getting a ticket and was still there even after I completed my errand 20 minutes later. I walked by his car but I very honorably did not wave or gloat, at least not visibly.

Well. So sometimes the forces of justice prevail. I was pretty self-conscious about being an especially good pedestrian after that, at least until I got back to the office.

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