Careful

On the way home from my monthly chocha waxing, I saw a lot of crazy pedestrian activity.

Usually I'm one of those pedestrians. I get antsy, start walking before it quite turns green. I jaywalk a fair amount, especially when I'm going to get coffee at the bakery directly across the street from my work.

At 3 pm today, a 60-year old pedestrian was killed.

My co-workers and I didn't know that at first, just saw the fire trucks and cop cars. Went to the front window, overlooking Bank, saw the ambulance, the paramedic closing the back door firmly, staring at the ground and walking slowly around to the driver's seat.

The people downstairs told us that someone had been run over - not just hit.

The truck he was found under was still on the street, looking completely unharmed. It was directly between the front door of my office and the front door of the bakery.

This comes a month after a 16-year old girl was hit at the corner of Bronson and Primrose, sent to hospital in serious but stable condition. I walked by that one a few minutes after it happened, the girl a lump under a cop's foil sheet, the paramedics just showing up.

The driver looked stricken. As she should have.

All this to say that when I got to the corner of Somerset and Bronson tonight, I thought it might be better to wait an extra three minutes in the cold than to catch the light. And it took every ounce of my willpower not to pluck at the sleeve of the man beside me, who, 2 minutes and 50 seconds later, started walking into the intersection when the light was still yellow.

This is not to say I blame pedestrians. I am a pedestrian far more often than I am a driver. I see drivers running yellows, hell, reds, on a regular basis, and you all need to slow the fuck down and wait your turn too.