The joys of driving through campus in the middle of the day… JMU students walking, JMU students running, JMU students mingling… all just fine by me. Then we have the problem:
JMU students crossing the street.
First of all, they’re totally obnoxious when they have the stop signs, and thus the right of way. You can find yourself sitting at these random stop signs throughout campus for minutes on end while everyone crosses the street. You really have to duck and dodge to get through, let me tell you, all the while trying not to run someone over.
Then there’s the painted crosswalks without stop signs or traffic lights. Crosswalk means we know to expect pedestrian traffic through that area. That still doesn’t mean that you can dart out in front of cars. And the pedestians think we have to stop for these things. I overheard one girl on the sidewalk say, “Thank you for stopping!” as I drove past without stopping. I’m sorry, but if there is no stop sign or traffic light, I don’t have to stop unless it would be unsafe to keep going (i.e. if some idiot is in the street already).
And worst of all are the people who just cross wherever they want. And run right in front of cars, too. Oh, I get plenty of use out of my brakes, let me tell you, because I don’t want to turn these rude little pedestrians into street pizza, because it’s hard enough finding a job without a vehicular homicide charge.
Worst of all is what this one person crossing the street not at a crosswalk did. She comes out of the road. She sees me. I stop. She just stands there, in the middle of the road, looking at me like how a deer stares into headlights. Since I had my window open, I reached out my window and pointed in front of the windshield in her direction of travel in such a way as to say, “MOVE IT!” And since I had the windows open, the pedestrians could hear all of my smart-ass comments and, um, “colorful” language (i.e. cursing) as my patience grows thinner and thinner by the second. Frustrating.
And then there’s parking, as if the driving’s not enough. Parking at JMU is like looking for a needle in a haystack. I parked in the gravel lot on Grace Street. I got literally the last available space WAY out in the back of the parking lot. This is when I wish that I could just fly. Would save me a lot of headache…