It’s a case of reverse Bojackery!
There’s a lively discussion about jaywalking over at Jack Bog’s Blog. Instead of blabbing all over his comment page, I’ve decided to tell my two short tales here.
A decade ago, I lived on 60th & NE Glisan. I’d get home around 1 AM. We lived mid-block, and I hated walking all the way to the corner to cross the street legally. I got off the bus, stepped off into the street and saw the patrol car at the same moment. Spirit deflated, I stepped back onto the curb and started for the crosswalk. The officer got on his PA and said, “Go ahead, I’m not going to ticket you.” He then waited until I passed in front of him. I was skeptical, but he left me alone. Needless to say, he got a big wave.
The second time was during a Rose Festival weekend, a fair-sized crowd got off the MAX at 1st and Yamhill, heading for Waterfront Park. One PPD officer in full uniform was in the group of about thirty. The train pulled away. There were no cars, buses, trains or anything else coming, and the light was taking forever. We all looked at each other, the officer looked at us, and I said, “I think we’re waiting on you, sir.” He looked around, shrugged, and led us all to the promised land of elephant ears and Lynyrd Skynyrd coke mirrors.
While the law is the law, it’s nice to see common sense in action as well.
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It is good to see common sense break out. Sometimes in Portland, you don’t see so much of it.
Growing up in New York City for part of my childhood seems to have given me a profound disdain for walk signals. For the most part, I prefer to rely on my eyes and ears to decide when and where it’s ok to cross. The bigger/busier the street, the less that’s true, both for the increase in the possibility of my eyes and ears being wrong as the chances of a cop seeing me. But I’m happy to hear that common sense is given its due.
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