All the time my wife tells me to go and and take a walk in our neighborhood. She encourages me to do this for better health, stress relief and general well being.
Still there is a reason I don’t like to walk around in our North Asheville neighborhood: I don’t feel safe.
I’m not sure why a 6500 pound GMC Yukon has to travel at 45 mph down a residential street in Asheville, but they do. I have become increasingly aware that pedestrians are pretty much invisible to the majority of drivers. If you see me walking, you’ll notice a person constantly looking behind himself as he passes driveways or side-roads. This is my small effort to keep from being spread onto the pavement like peanut butter.
Perhaps the most alarming thing is this: Few drivers bother to stop at crosswalks anymore.
This is prevalent at one notorious crosswalk on Kimberly Avenue and Hampstead Road. This crosswalk can be found where the road dips slightly. Don’t count on the steady stream of cars to slow down just because you are standing on a crosswalk. Most cars travel around 45 mph in this 25 mph zone How about the park by Ida Jones school, the city has installed two speed bumps. No matter. Cars fly over them like rocket ships taking flight.
I took the car out this morning and happened to meet up with a jogger at the Ida Jones park crosswalk. As I stopped for him to cross, you should have seen the look of utter shock and dismay on his face.
I could go on, but I already feel this post taking an extremest angle.
Anyway, I’ve always wondered what the cause of this behavior could be. Is it something as simple as our own selfishness? Could there be a more deep routed reason?
Ah, it must be the Coffee!
Look around the coffee shops of Asheville and you’ll see a steady stream of people like ants in an anthill. There is no doubt that this town loves coffee. Dawn brought home coffee from Mountain Java the other day. I took a sip and realized how strong this stuff was. We usually don’t buy coffee from the shops unless it’s a special occasion. When we brew coffee, it’s rather weak. I think I use 7 tablespoons to 12 cups of water.
We all know that heavily caffeinated coffee perks up our brains and get’s us through the day. How convenient that it also “helps us get our driving done faster.” Shoot yeah! We can get the kids to school faster, arrive at work early and pick up Chinese take-out before the game starts.
And if someone happens to be waiting at a cross walk, they can wait. After all drivers have the right of way. Don’t they?
