Pedestrian Mentality

I was out shopping this weekend, and a few incidents made me realize that the phrase "pedestrians have the right-of-way" has gotten a little out of hand. It appears that this phrase has started a whole new attitude that trumps our ideals of what it means to be courteous, not to mention careful.

Here are two examples:

I was parked between two very large vehicles at a grocery store. In my little car, there was no way that I could have seen over the cars beside me as I backed out, so I put it in reverse and started backing out slowly, checking both directions as I went. As I glanced left, I saw two small children dart behind my car. I hit the brakes. No harm done.

About fifteen feet behind the children was their mother, glaring at me. Okay, so I almost didn't see your kids, I thought, but didn't she see my reverse lights? Didn't she think that maybe there might be cars moving in the parking lot, and that maybe she shouldn't let her kids go running ahead of her?

When I was young, my mother would have apologized to the driver with a wave and then scolded my sister and I for not watching where we were going. Did that make my mother a bad person? No, it made her courteous, careful, and a good parent. She wanted us to know that we weren't invincible and that knowing what was going on around us was important.

The second event of my shopping trip wasn't nearly as eventful. I was at a store near my house, looking, as was everyone, for a place to park. As I drove up and down the aisles, traffic was at a standstill because of all of the people walking down the middle of each aisle. The worst part was that almost all of them appeared to know exactly what they were doing, looking behind to see how many cars had stacked up behind them,

I know that we have been taught that cars yield to pedestrians every time, but whoever came up with that rule probably never thought that pedestrians would actually want to block cars from going by. It's simply rude, and it shows how self-involved some people have gotten.

Remember, treat others the way you would expect to be treated. If you are the guy who wants to walk down the aisle blocking my way, don't be upset when someone does the same to you.

Happy Holidays!

Pocket Survival Kit

I get a lot of hell from people about the amount of stuff I carry in my pockets. In fact, a few years ago, when I was in my wilder days, I even had a police officer comment that I "carried more stuff in my pockets than he had in his entire apartment." This, coming from a guy who wears a utility belt every day, seemed especially funny.

So, prompted by a coworkers comments this morning when I was fishing out change for a Coke, I decided to list everything I carry on a regular basis.

Here is a shot of everything in my front pockets today.


A - Non-key keyring - Seems like everything these days is designed to carry on a keyring. So, rather than have all of these devices take up space with my keys, I carry a separate ring with the following items.

• 2 USB Flash drives
• Bottle opener
• LED Flashlight
• Sharpie marker
• SecurID for access to servers at work
• Lockpick - because you never know when you might need to open something

B - Car keys - I don't know why I carry this by itself. I just do

C - Key ring - All of the other keys I might ever need. You would think that I use these a lot. I don't.

D - Change - I always carry 3 quarters, 1 dime, 2 nickels and 4 pennies. With that, you can make any amount of change. I usually also carry an additional $1.50 in quarters, because you should be able to buy a drink at any vending machine for that.

E - Pocket knife

F - Digital camera - Because you never know when you might need a picture of something, and I phones with cameras still don't quite cut it.

G - Pill case - Ibuprofen and Immodium. With those, you can solve almost any pressing problems.

H - Cell phone - Right now, I am carrying a smart phone.

I - Lighter - You never know when you need to burn something.

J (not shown) - Black pen - A basic black pen is always useful. I always carry a twist-style because there isn't the risk of it accidentally coming open.


What do you carry in your pockets? Post a comment and let me know.