Why

[indysteel]

Kids' slowness I can handle, but adults who creep along while crossing the streets in downtown Indy make my blood pressure rise. Lordy, some people walk sooooooo slowly. It's not that I think I have some greater right to the road as a driver, but when I'm walking across a busy street, I try not to dawdle out of courtesy to drivers. And if I don't have time to get across before the light changes, I wait (most of our intersections offer a countdown).

[Blueberry]

Kids' slowness I can handle, but adults who creep along while crossing the streets in downtown Indy make my blood pressure rise. Lordy, some people walk sooooooo slowly. It's not that I think I have some greater right to the road as a driver, but when I'm walking across a busy street, I try not to dawdle out of courtesy to drivers. And if I don't have time to get across before the light changes, I wait (most of our intersections offer a countdown).

Or the adults that cross *against* a do not walk sign who take their time, and then give an obscene gesture to cars who were (legitimately) trying to get through (but not in any way being threatening). I've observed this too many times as a pedestrian. If only all people could follow basic, common courtesy.

[Cataboo]

What drives me nuts is when there's a group of teenagers that make a show of walking very slowly down the middle of the road - knowing that they're doing it on purpose just to be annoying.

[Selkie]

You know, for a bunch of people who are quick to point out the rights of cyclists to be on the road even though we slow down traffic that might back up behind us in tight spots, and who work to change laws about when and how a car can legally and safely pass a cyclist, you all are sure vocal in your complaints about being slowed down by kids getting off the bus.

People are people. Kids are slow. Parents like to find out how their kids are doing (or maybe there's a more legitimate purpose for the talking--maybe their kid has been bullied on the bus and they need to talk to the driver about that, or maybe the kid left their coat on the bus the day before and they want to know if it was found, or maybe they are letting the driver know that the kid has a doctor's appointment the next day so won't need to be picked up in the morning). Personally my kid is slow getting off the bus because he's autistic and not always with it and doesn't do well with transitions, so getting on and off the bus involves cajoling (on our part) and head banging (on his part).

I'm VERY glad that there are all of these safety checks in place for kids getting on and off the bus (o.k., checking under the wheels with a flashlight seems like overkill)--one of my best friends in 4th grade was hit by a driver passing a school bus. He wasn't killed, but he was really messed up and missed months of fourth grade.

So you're inconvenienced for a few minutes when you're stuck behind a bus. If you don't like it, find another route, or don't go out on the road at the time of day when you know the busses are running, or leave a few minutes earlier. And remind yourself that if the busses weren't running, there would be another 30 or 50 cars per missing bus out on the road transporting the kids to and from school. Does that sound preferable?

Ahem, I was on foot, walking my dog, when this happened. I wasn't "inconvenienced," but it was a safety issue. The combination of the bus, parents, cars, and kids freaked out my 85lb golden. The fact that they were p*ssing around made it worse (I had to get down on the curb and hold my dog to keep her from bolting. Not one of them showed an ounce of consideration.)

I've noticed the same thing when driving, but it's minor compared to the multitude of other annoyances that are a part of commuting in a busy area (metro construction, HOT lane construction, etc). FWIW, there are a shortage of alternative routes for commuters in the DC area due to all of the construction projects. Anyone who has to transit or work in Tysons Corner can attest to this.

I kid you not, I once waited FIVE minutes for kids to get off a bus (there weren't that many kids to warrant it, either). This was on a busy road, during early rush hour. Consideration works both ways. Enough said.

[Crankin]

Yes, I agree. It's generally not the kids who are annoying me. They are kids. It's the parents. Sorry, but the whole thing about waiting with your kid for the bus and being there to get him/her every single day is, in my mind another example of helicopter parenting. The prolonged goodbyes, hugs that make it look like the kid is going away for 2 months, etc. just drives me nuts.
In my mind, parents just see this as a socializing time with other parents, and are not aware at all about what's going on around them, i.e., there are lots of people waiting behind the bus. Yes, I want to get to work or wherever I am going. If that's impatient, so be it.
Am I the *only* person who didn't sit with my kids in the car while waiting for the bus? When they were older, if they needed to be at school early for work, or projects, I would drive them, even though it was totally in the opposite direction of where I went.
One time DS #2 missed the bus in HS, because of his own laziness. We watched through the window, as he ran off somewhere (school was about 5 miles away). We never knew what happened, or where he went, but later found out that the bus actually made a stop at the other end of our neighborhood, about 3 minutes later, so he ran over there. Of course he was a teenager, but in our house, we had alarms set to warn them that the bus was coming in 5 minutes and that was when they had to put on their coats, get their stuff, and go stand in the driveway. This started when they were 10 and 8, when they told us that we did not have to be there when they left and they refused to go to the babysitter in the morning.

[Irulan]

Ahem, I was on foot, walking my dog, when this happened. I wasn't "inconvenienced," but it was a safety issue. The combination of the bus, parents, cars, and kids freaked out my 85lb golden. The fact that they were p*ssing around made it worse (I had to get down on the curb and hold my dog to keep her from bolting. Not one of them showed an ounce of consideration.)

I fail to see why there was a problem for you (and the dog) here. It sounds like you were on foot, and probably could have done any number of thing to extricate yourself from what you and or the dog felt was an unpleasant situation. You could have turned around, crossed the street, stopped and waited 1/2 a block away, gone around the block...Goldens (having raised several) are typically calm and good natured if well trained. If your dog is a problem in crowds or chaotic situations, perhaps you need to plan your route differently if this is going to be a regualr occurance, or get some additional training for your dog. You could view it as a training opportunity: back off to the perimeter of the situation, put the dog in a sit-stay or a lie-stay, and patiently let him/her become more accustomed to the chaos than they are now.

I plan my routes around when school gets out, regularly. Been there, done that, will go out of my way to avoid the traffic now.

[Cataboo]

Ahem, I was on foot, walking my dog, when this happened. I wasn't "inconvenienced," but it was a safety issue. The combination of the bus, parents, cars, and kids freaked out my 85lb golden. The fact that they were p*ssing around made it worse (I had to get down on the curb and hold my dog to keep her from bolting. Not one of them showed an ounce of consideration.)
.

I totally understand why this would be annoying. However, if you think it's an outright safety issue with your dog to be walking him near people and cars and hubbub, then maybe you need to change your dog walking route or work on training him or whatever.

[Blueberry]

Deleted my response.

[AllezGirl]

Sometimes I ride on narrow twisty roads with no shoulders. I've had drivers wait FIVE minutes to pass me. An inconvenience for them, I'm sure. But I do appreciate it.

Share the road/sidewalk/whatever. I've learned that most people have agendas that do not suit mine, it's not personal. Five minutes is not substantial in the scheme o' life. Don't sweat it.