Walking in LA

We are lucky to live in a community where there are lots of shops and resources within walking distance. Actually, it is not just luck, a walkable community was a priority for us and we gave up living in a bigger or nicer house so that we could live in our neighborhood. I try do most of my errands on foot-- I can walk to the grocery store, the drug store, the library, the post office, the park, coffee shops, restaurants, etc. Both Baby M and I much prefer the stroller to the car and the hassle that comes with getting a baby in and out of a car seat.

Most people are perfectly nice when they see Baby M and I waiting on the corner to cross the street. They smile at his pudgy little feet propped up on the stroller bar and laugh as he waves his Tag Along Lion Chime. But more often than you would expect, drivers yell or honk their horn at us as we cross in the crosswalk with the light. Do these people not remember Driver's Ed? Pedestrians have the right of way. Is the extra 10 seconds they have to wait to make a right turn really enough time to bring on a blistering case of road rage? And besides that, do they realize that they are yelling and honking at a baby?!?

Today we saw particularly egregious case of driving gone bad. My husband, Baby M, our dog and I were walking back from getting a cup of coffee at Peet's coffee near Lincoln and Mindanao. We were waiting at the corner where the 90 freeway hits Mindanao. The light turned green, the little walking man started flashing and we began making our way across the intersection. When I was about half way across the intersection a car sped around the corner just inches from my toes. I turned around incredulously to look at my husband, and to, perhaps get some sympathy from the next driver. You know something along the lines of "Oh my gosh that asshole driver almost took out your whole family. I can't believe that guy!" Instead the woman yelled at me to hurry up and get out of the damn intersection. Nice. It is people like this who give Los Angeles a bad rap.

The rest of the way home my husband and I brainstormed about what to do about inconsiderate drivers. My husband rides the bus or bikes to work most days so he has his fair share of encounters with idiot drivers too. We thought about publicly shaming them on a web site called assholedriver.com. Ofcourse that url is already being used by a porn site, but I did come across this site allowing users to post pictures and comments about asshole drivers they encounter. It's in beta and seems to be focused on New York, but still looks promising. Maybe I'll start keeping my cell phone handy at intersections and post a few pictures of my own.