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jamesqJaywalking is wrong. I know that but I still do it. In my defense, I make a point of only doing it when I perceive it to be safe and not inconveniencing others. I'm surely not unique in that. Perception is the key here - there are times I've jaywalked when it wasn't safe because I missed that a car was coming. It's pretty rare, since I'm fairly vigilant in this situation.
I've been at risk from cars more often when I legally have the right of way. Times I've been in danger while jaywalking in the last ten years? Less than a handful. Times I've been in danger while crossing a street legally in the last ten years? More than I remember - it happens two or three times every winter. Learning to drive had made me a better pedestrian because I know have a better idea of how many thing drivers have to pay attention to. I have a very Russian faith in street lights now. Trust but verify that the car is going to stop before stepping in front of it, because you can be legally in the right while simultaneously being dead from a high-speed impact.
Today I was in the wrong and car driver was more in the wrong. I crossed an intersection that was still green for traffic going my way, but the "Don't Walk" sign had begun to blink. I quickly assessed the intersection and determined that traffic could only come from one direction and there were no cars in that way. Traffic couldn't come from behind me, because that would require a left-hand turn into my crosswalk, and the sign clearly said "No Left Turns". Naturally, someone turned left.
Now this wouldn't have bothered me except they decided to point at the "Don't Walk" sign to make the point that I was in the wrong. In return I pointed at the "No Left-Turns" sign. They didn't turn to see it and were no doubt concluding that I was pointing at some irrelevant thing. Hopefully they'll notice it tomorrow when they come to the intersection again, but I doubt it. More likely, if they consider the sign at all, they'll think "there shouldn't be a restriction on how I turn".
So I was in the wrong, but I contend that they were more wrong, based on this simple formula:absolute-degree-of-wrongness = individual-wrongness * mass * velocity
Therefore cars are always more wrong then pedestrians, trucks are always more wrong then cars, tanks are always more wrong then trucks. The only exception to this is trains, which can't veer and have trouble stopping. If you get hit by a train, it's not the train's fault.
As if to illustrate this fact, I found a twoonie on the ground five minutes later. Will I be extra lucky today, or was this evidence that I have been lucky today? Certainly I'm $2 richer, so I have that going for me. Perhaps I'll use this windfall to buy a lottery ticket. I'll think of it as a half-way point between my own lottery method and![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
bungle_lord's method.
Over the weekend another piece of the mental jigsaw puzzle fell into place. Some friends and I were wandering through CrossIron Mills (aka Mallzac) and we went into the Tommy Bahama store. TB is a store I've always wanted to buy stuff from. I sense that it would look good on me. I almost never venture in there though. Saturday I figured out why - the staff is too efficient.
Every time I go into a TB store, a staff member is on me in seconds. And they are oh so very eager to help me in any way possible to make a purchase. It's unnerving for two reasons: First, it triggers my you're-being-scammed reflex and makes me distrust anything they say. Second, I feel it obligates me to buy something, because they're putting in an effort. I don't like feeling obligated to strangers. I take my obligations seriously, and efforts to trigger that instinct bother me.
The whole thing causes anxiety in what should be a normal transaction. Except they're try to make it more then a normal transaction aren't they? Is it too much to ask that I go into a shop, browse and - unless I have a specific question or request - have the staff keep their distance until I'm ready to make a purchase?
I'd like to buy something from TB, but they keep chasing me out of the store.
I've thought of solutions, but none are satisfactory.
Scenario 1: Completely ignore the staff, even in the face of questions. When forced to respond, say something like "Oh I'm sorry, were you talking to me? I didn't realize since I hadn't actually asked for help."
Pros: The staff will probably avoid you like the plague after this, whether you want them to or not.
Cons: I'd be a passive-aggressive SOB.
Scenario 2: Immediately preempt any attempt at conversation with the statement "Salesman freak me out. If you bother me I will not buy anything". This is more or less what I did Saturday. In my defense it was a completely knee-jerk reaction.
Pros: It's true!
Cons: Still pretty rude. Exposes me as the neurotic I am.
Scenario 3: "I'm just browsing." Follow this up with non-verbal stop-bothering-me cues.
Pros: It's one of those polite social-lubricant phrases we use, so it's well understood.
Cons: You have to put up with the stock responses.
I'm guessing #3 is the one to go with until I come up with something better. People admonishing me to not-be-short-by-being-taller, will be ignored.
In other, completely mundane and unrelated news:
I've been at risk from cars more often when I legally have the right of way. Times I've been in danger while jaywalking in the last ten years? Less than a handful. Times I've been in danger while crossing a street legally in the last ten years? More than I remember - it happens two or three times every winter. Learning to drive had made me a better pedestrian because I know have a better idea of how many thing drivers have to pay attention to. I have a very Russian faith in street lights now. Trust but verify that the car is going to stop before stepping in front of it, because you can be legally in the right while simultaneously being dead from a high-speed impact.
Today I was in the wrong and car driver was more in the wrong. I crossed an intersection that was still green for traffic going my way, but the "Don't Walk" sign had begun to blink. I quickly assessed the intersection and determined that traffic could only come from one direction and there were no cars in that way. Traffic couldn't come from behind me, because that would require a left-hand turn into my crosswalk, and the sign clearly said "No Left Turns". Naturally, someone turned left.
Now this wouldn't have bothered me except they decided to point at the "Don't Walk" sign to make the point that I was in the wrong. In return I pointed at the "No Left-Turns" sign. They didn't turn to see it and were no doubt concluding that I was pointing at some irrelevant thing. Hopefully they'll notice it tomorrow when they come to the intersection again, but I doubt it. More likely, if they consider the sign at all, they'll think "there shouldn't be a restriction on how I turn".
So I was in the wrong, but I contend that they were more wrong, based on this simple formula:
Therefore cars are always more wrong then pedestrians, trucks are always more wrong then cars, tanks are always more wrong then trucks. The only exception to this is trains, which can't veer and have trouble stopping. If you get hit by a train, it's not the train's fault.
As if to illustrate this fact, I found a twoonie on the ground five minutes later. Will I be extra lucky today, or was this evidence that I have been lucky today? Certainly I'm $2 richer, so I have that going for me. Perhaps I'll use this windfall to buy a lottery ticket. I'll think of it as a half-way point between my own lottery method and
bungle_lord's method.Over the weekend another piece of the mental jigsaw puzzle fell into place. Some friends and I were wandering through CrossIron Mills (aka Mallzac) and we went into the Tommy Bahama store. TB is a store I've always wanted to buy stuff from. I sense that it would look good on me. I almost never venture in there though. Saturday I figured out why - the staff is too efficient.
Every time I go into a TB store, a staff member is on me in seconds. And they are oh so very eager to help me in any way possible to make a purchase. It's unnerving for two reasons: First, it triggers my you're-being-scammed reflex and makes me distrust anything they say. Second, I feel it obligates me to buy something, because they're putting in an effort. I don't like feeling obligated to strangers. I take my obligations seriously, and efforts to trigger that instinct bother me.
The whole thing causes anxiety in what should be a normal transaction. Except they're try to make it more then a normal transaction aren't they? Is it too much to ask that I go into a shop, browse and - unless I have a specific question or request - have the staff keep their distance until I'm ready to make a purchase?
I'd like to buy something from TB, but they keep chasing me out of the store.
I've thought of solutions, but none are satisfactory.
Scenario 1: Completely ignore the staff, even in the face of questions. When forced to respond, say something like "Oh I'm sorry, were you talking to me? I didn't realize since I hadn't actually asked for help."
Pros: The staff will probably avoid you like the plague after this, whether you want them to or not.
Cons: I'd be a passive-aggressive SOB.
Scenario 2: Immediately preempt any attempt at conversation with the statement "Salesman freak me out. If you bother me I will not buy anything". This is more or less what I did Saturday. In my defense it was a completely knee-jerk reaction.
Pros: It's true!
Cons: Still pretty rude. Exposes me as the neurotic I am.
Scenario 3: "I'm just browsing." Follow this up with non-verbal stop-bothering-me cues.
Pros: It's one of those polite social-lubricant phrases we use, so it's well understood.
Cons: You have to put up with the stock responses.
I'm guessing #3 is the one to go with until I come up with something better. People admonishing me to not-be-short-by-being-taller, will be ignored.
In other, completely mundane and unrelated news:
- Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1 was a good, if somewhat grim film. The screenwriter and director (who is finally growing on me after pissing me off with the Half-Blood Prince) are embellishing Rowlings work for the better.
- CrossIron Mills has a really nice, if moderately more expensive, movie theater. Given it only takes me ten minutes to drive there, I might go more often.
- Shaganappi Trail now connects to Stoney Trail! Glee!
- Gaming was fun and I should do it some more.
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no subject
Date: 2010-12-06 09:48 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-12-06 09:49 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-12-06 09:54 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-12-06 10:03 pm (UTC)I sometimes drive a 3/4 ton pickup with 3500+ lb of cargo in a trailer with no brakes (not required since it's a single axle trailer). This combination can stop reasonably quickly, but not on a dime.
I can't count the number of times a lightweight economy car has jumped into the lane immediately ahead of me and then decelerated suddenly. So far, I've avoided hitting them, but have come *very* close a few times. Which makes me wonder a) why they don't realize their 2500-3000 lb car can stop a whole lot faster than that 8-9k lb combination can, and b) whether they've ever done that to fully loaded semis and lived to tell the tale ..
no subject
Date: 2010-12-06 10:17 pm (UTC)I generally treat large vehicles like trains. I give the cement truck a lot of room before I move into its lane.
no subject
Date: 2010-12-06 10:19 pm (UTC)The one I use
Date: 2010-12-07 12:22 am (UTC)That usually keeps them half watching you - because they want your signal that you are ready to talk to them, but far enough away to not actively push or bug you.
It helps to do this while wearing clothes that are on the high end of what the store carries... ie: dressed as their more wealthier clientele.
For very expensive clothes stores you can usually dress as their standard clientele and get away with this line - since they are usually more sensitive about being percieved as pushy.
Trying this line dressed as a slob (or like you just came out of a lab after working a 48hr stint) will get you watched like a hawk until they are certain that you aren't planning on stealing stuff.
My biggest issue is not pushy sales folks it's the ones who ignore you for 15 minutes, and then treat you like you are imposing when you do finally track them down to get answers. Especially if they are very young and chewing gum like a cow while talking to you (hmmm when did I get to be such an old lady...)
no subject
Date: 2010-12-07 01:02 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-12-07 01:11 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-12-07 01:56 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-12-07 02:10 am (UTC)That's the socially nice version of 'leave me alone'
If you just say you are browsing they figure you want the sales pitch, and most folks now a days are clueless to non-verbal cues. (I blame my non-verbal cue cluelessness on the amount of time I spend with my computer)
;)
from a former salesperson/ retail managers perspective.
Date: 2010-12-07 05:09 am (UTC)The reason is Very simple and is not the one MOST people assume. Most people assume it is because we want to have you buy something. It is actually that we want to make it less likely you will steal something. There have been a number of studies (no I no longer have them) that when you greet a potential thief, they are less likely to steal from your store.
I have also witnessed this personally when I lived in Montreal and have interesting stories regarding this.
I also always left the customer alone (yes with a semi stock answer) when they let me know they where only looking.
Re: from a former salesperson/ retail managers perspective.
Date: 2010-12-07 06:20 am (UTC)I get really squicky when I'm hunted down by a sale associate in order for them to say hello. That's why I never go into Payless anymore.
On the other hand, when I'm greeted with a passing hello, or a hello and a "I'll just be over here if you have any questions", I'm about two hundred percent happier, and am significantly more likely to spend money in the store (not to mention return!).
Re: from a former salesperson/ retail managers perspective.
Date: 2010-12-07 06:37 pm (UTC)Re: from a former salesperson/ retail managers perspective.
Date: 2010-12-08 02:23 am (UTC)