1 post tagged “crossing streets”

When was the last time you did something dangerous? 
Submitted by Ross. 

Ha.  I forgot to add the Thing That Scares Me More Than Most Other Things to my last post ("Things that scare me to varying degrees"), so this QotD has great timing.  What is this Thing That Scares Me More Than Most Other Things?  Crossing streets.  Yeah, no one's ever chided me for behaving too recklessly -- OCD keeps that in check.  I really have a fear of crossing streets at non-approved crosswalks and getting hit by a car.  I remember walking around San Jose, Costa Rica a year ago with my friends.  They had no qualms about sprinting across four lanes of traffic; however, jaywalking is something I simply Do Not Do.  Unfortunately, "getting lost in foreign cities by myself while my friends walk merrily to our car on the other side of the street" is also something that I Do Not Do, so I was forced to run after them.  I was not pleased.

The last time I did something dangerous like this -- crossing a street at an unapproved crosswalk -- was at lunchtime the day before yesterday.  The restaurant Panera is directly across the street from my office; however, the nearest crosswalk is a quarter-mile away.  I walked up to the crosswalk on my way to Panera, but on my way back to work after picking up my lunch, I had to eschew the long walk back to the crosswalk because I only a couple of minutes to get back to the office.  So, I ran across the first two lanes of traffic and stood in the median to wait for a break in traffic, before dashing across the last two lanes of traffic.  AND I did all of this while clutching a container of hot broccoli cheddar soup -- talk about "danger."  Did I have a mild panic attack after reaching the other side of the street?  Sure.  Did I feel a sense of guilt for jaywalking?  Of course.  Did I shave minutes off my walk back to work and, for a brief moment, feel like a normal person?  Definitely.  Naturally, I made that feeling go away by returning to the office and arranging items on my desk so that they would all be perpendicular to each other.