When Pedestrians Fight Back!

It’s hard out here for a limp.

Or even if you're not limping, you're simply on foot, that’s hard. Drivers give you no respect, they barely break for you, at times throwing things like half full soda containers and apple cores that catch you on the side of the head. Good luck if you're dressed well and caught walking by a large puddle, oh brother, drivers just love that. A cold muddy splash and then a honk as they disappear up the street and you just stand there, dripping in your fresh new rayon suit.

Some of us are pedestrians because the cars in the shop or we’re on our third DUI. Others do it because we hate the gym, we need a reason to walk three miles and hate spending an hour on a fucking treadmill. Others of us are making a statement. While all you sheep sit pumping out exhaust bumper to bumper, not moving an inch, we cruuuuuuise on by along the sidewalk, nothing to worry about except looking down every once and awhile to make sure our shoelaces are tied. Granted, you sheep are protected in your capsules of metal while we’re out here coughing on your exhaust, but still, we were given legs for a reason!

The world is set up for cars, not people on foot. In thousands of towns and cities throughout this country you can be making your way jauntily down a sidewalk and then bam, the sidewalk disappears and you’re suddenly on the shoulder playing chicken with blind corners. Society looks down it’s noses at pedestrians. Our culture makes it very clear that if  you’re not surrounded by a capsule of metal and glass then you’re not truly a person.

One man couldn’t take the discrimination anymore. Anthony Cardenas of Vallejo was on foot and sick of having to jaywalk at a local intersection, challenged by drivers for his very life. On May 30th he decided to fight back by buying a can of white paint and starting to paint a crosswalk onto the pavement. When the police showed up and asked him what it was he was doing Cardenas replied: “It’s needed.”

The police then pointed out to the 52 year old Cardenas that there were already three sanctioned crosswalks at that particular intersection, then they arrested him for vandalism and booked him at the local jail on $15,000 bail. Why would Cardenas add a fourth crosswalk you ask? Why not! Anthony Cardenas is a pedestrian and has already walked enough, why should he walk the twenty something feet to a crosswalk when he can spend an hour collecting the supplies and then spend four something hours painting an illegal crosswalk through the intersection?

Cardenas sits in jail now, a political prisoner of a car-centric society that represents all pedestrians everywhere. Meanwhile, a police cadet is posted at the bogus crosswalk all day, reminding people not to use it until city workers can clean up Mr. Cardena’s work.

06-04-13