[Jennifer]

I think I know the phenomenon you are asking about, and I don’t think you mean a business person rushing to catch a bus. There are streets in Chicago near impoverished areas and housing projects where people amble across without looking, completely oblivious to any vehicle. As to the ‘why’ this happens, I can only say that I have had days where I am so sad/mad/frustrated/angry with the world that I have sort of taken on a momentary attitude of ‘everyone had better just make way for me because my life is so terrible now, I don’t have the energy to look out for anyone else’. This may seem simplistic, but I think it’s like that every single day for some people. When you feel cheated and ostracized by the world, it is easy to have a bit of a ‘F everybody else’ attitude. An easy way to express this attitude is to cross the street in the middle of traffic because you know no one will really run you over – they’ll just have to stop and wait for you, which is probably the kind of acknowledgement and recognition needed by the people you are seeing. If they seem to be predominantl black youth, I would bet that they are not the black kids who are going home to loving, attentive families who ask how their day was, but instead are kids struggling with gangs, peer pressure, no support from home, poverty, and the constant lure of drugs and alcohol. All they want is for someone to stop and take notice of THEM for a change…and their actions perfectly reflect that desire. I’m not advocating this behavior – it’s selfish and unsafe – but I’m saying that you may want to consider this…how miserable must a person be if they are resorting to walking out in traffic to be noticed or considered? Maybe the only ‘polite’ thing that happened to them all day was you not running them over!

User Detail :  

Name : Jennifer, Gender : F, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : White/Caucasian, Religion : Christian, Age : 30, City : Chicago, State : IL, Country : United States, Occupation : Accountant, Education level : 4 Years of College, Social class : Upper middle class, 

[Author]

Posts