Frogger

Crossing the street here can be a lot like playing a live game of Frogger. Remember that video game that you have to jump the frog across the stream without him landing in the water? Well the way you lose this live game is that you get squished by a car. I have played it several times these last couple of days.

To get across the busy streets here, you must be a risk-taker. I am not generally a risk-taker, but I love the feeling of accomplishing something so non-American. I feel like I am becoming Indian.

Today I was still remembering my risks yesterday when I crossed over the bus lane and had a bus go by me so close I could touch it. So I decided to not be as risky in the road crossing game today. I chose to cross with the crowd. Unfortunately the crowd was only one person. He was talking on his cell phone as we crossed the street. So it seemed that he was a calm, confident sort of person. We got a third of the way across and he freaked out with the car heading right at us, and he waved the car to go in front of us while he went backwards. In the split second, I made the decision to go forward. Luckily for me, the car went behind me and in front of him since he went back a ways. So much for my bright idea of the crowd.

As I made it across and thought about how really drivers don't want to hit people, I smiled. And then I started to feel like I had just accomplished a huge feat. I am sure that in America, a driver would totally slam on his brakes and come to a stop to let me cross. But this driver didn't slow down, but he also knew that he wasn't going to hit either of us. I never expect a driver to slow down or stop here. It is totally up to the walker to get out of the way or to cross only when he can make it to a halting place. Kind of like the frog jumping on a log and resting for his perfect leap to the next log.

Just call me Frogger!