Kids walking in the street can be so frustrating
By GDTimothy
@GDTimothy (446)
United States
October 25, 2010 10:32am CST
Okay, so I'm driving down a side street of a small town, and there in the middle of the road are four teenagers (2 boys and 2 girls) walking abreast in the same direction I am driving. I slow down to a crawl behind them. Two of the kids turn their heads and look at me briefly. Then they all continue to walk ahead as if nothing was wrong.
My blood pressure rises as I ask myself why they couldn't just move to the shoulder of the road to let me by. They had plenty of room to get off the road. And I would have to drive my car off the opposite shoulder of the road to get by them.
Now, I realize that pedestrians have the right of way. But that is when they are crossing the road, not when they are walking down the freaking middle of the road.
I briefly fantasized about driving up behind them and gently bumping them all in the butts. Perhaps that would teach them about being careful of being on the road. Of course I'd also get the pants sued right off me, so it really wasn't a good option.
I also thought about carefully getting by them and pulling off ahead of them to stop directly in their way, and waiting to see what they would do. But I thought better of that because knowing myself, I'd probably storm out of my car and give them a loud angry lecture about politeness and taking chances that the car behind them might not have been so careful as me. Some idiot with a temper might just have hurt them with his car. Or maybe somebody wouldn't be paying attention and suddenly come to a screeching halt and accidentally run into them. Or maybe clip one of them as he tried to get past without going off the road.
As it happened, other scenarios flew through my mind, but ultimately I simply drove off the road in the other lane and passed them without further incident, except for fuming about it all the way home. But I really, really would have liked to have given them a piece of my mind about being little idiots by walking down the road and not caring about traffic.
So, what would you do? And what do you think was in these kids' heads, and why did they not get off the road?
3 people like this
3 responses
@abitosunshine (765)
• United States
25 Oct 10
This happens around here a lot and yes, it really gets me fuming too! I usually end up doing the same as you did, so it's me that will have a stress attack, not them. Occasionally I'll roll down the window and call them Punks! That's exactly what they are...disrespectful punks!
2 people like this
@GDTimothy (446)
• United States
26 Oct 10
At a girl! You're my kind of woman! :-)
But I'll tell ya one thing, if I had ever had kids of my own, I sure would have given them hell if I found out they ever did stuff like this!
2 people like this
@abitosunshine (765)
• United States
26 Oct 10
As would I, Gary! And it makes you wonder -- why don't the parents know these kids are doing such? But maybe the do and the punks don't care! Or maybe the parents don't care. Who knows!
1 person likes this
@GDTimothy (446)
• United States
26 Oct 10
Hahaa! Our fingers can be sooo expressive at times! I don't know why I didn't think of that. :-)
1 person likes this
@cyrus123 (6363)
• United States
26 Oct 10
I've never heard of anything like this, myself. I've had to deal with bicyclists not getting out of the way
! I might have done the same as you. Or, better yet, I would have just gotten out and told them to move. I don't blame you for being upset. I probably would have been, too, and knowing me, I probably would have chewed them out! Kids just don't have any manners these days, do they
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! I might have done the same as you. Or, better yet, I would have just gotten out and told them to move. I don't blame you for being upset. I probably would have been, too, and knowing me, I probably would have chewed them out! Kids just don't have any manners these days, do they?@GDTimothy (446)
• United States
27 Oct 10
Yes, I'm thinking that manners and common courtesy are in short supply these days in all too many kids! I'm usually not prone to road rage, but I think these kids deserved a little rage, so to speak. ;-)
