Nothing wholesome about this obsequious subservience to cars.
Wholesome would be reclaiming the streets for people.
Pedestrian crossings are part of the sidewalk and there is no reason for a human to ever be ‘thankful’ to continue walking exactly where they’re meant to. Remember, at an uncontrolled marked crossing, a pedestrian always has the right of way, whether it’s going over a small one lane street or (shudders) a four lane highway.
There’s no reason for a human to ever be “thankful” in millions of situations. You’re allowed to be gracious. You don’t need to be callous about how the world has to be.
Being kind is fine, but I’m not going to thank a random person on the street for not mugging just like I won’t thank a driver for not putting my life in danger. I consider there to be a bare minimum of human behavior that doesn’t require thanks: putting trash in a bin rather than littering, not pissing onto a park bench, following the law for pedestrian crossings, etc.
. I consider there to be a bare minimum of human behavior
And part of that ‘bare minimum’ is acting graciously in your interactions with other people.
At worst, your giving up two seconds of your day to make someone else feel appreciated.
I’ll nod in thanks to a driver who slows to permit me to cross sooner. Because the alternative is me waiting longer to cross since I will not be commiting suicide to prove a point about ‘right of way’ by stepping in front of their moving car.
They should stop, but lots don’t…as such I’ll thank those who do. But hey, I also thank the fast food worker for handing me my bag of mcnuggies even though doing so doesn’t really make sense since they have no choice.
It’s not even real gratitude. It’s a phatic expression in the same sense as “what’s up” and “how are you?” not actually intending to be a serious question on what’s happening in their life. Expressions like these exist in every language to help with social interaction, in a sense it’s what gives language its human element, beyond just a medium of information transport. Hell even tons of animals have similar types of behaviours so it seems really weird to be so staunchly against this very common and basic kind of communication.
I fucking hate cars and I still wave drivers who stop simply because that’s the common etiquette. It takes nearly zero effort so it’s more of a why not do it type situation. I genuinely think it’s easier to just do it instead of getting worked up and opposing it because it’s such a simple thing that doesn’t have any negative side effects on you.
Similarly, pedestrians always have the right of way on the road. You may have been convinced otherwise, but Jay-walking is car manufacturer made up bullshit. It is illegal in some states, but even still pedestrians have the right of way, you can just be fined for exercising it. Roads were originally owned by people, not cars. Cars were visitors who now have overstayed their welcome.
Everyone else does it just because it’s polite
I make eye contact and walk at a normal pace. In Spain people get mad when cars drive down city streets. They glare daggers at you while they clear the street begrudgingly. We need that energy in the United States. Cars should know that they are second class citizens.
My move is a vague wave in the car’s direction as I start crossing. It’s a mix between “I know who you are and I’m fine with it” and “you shall not pass”.
I don’t even particularly like it, but it’s something I saw my dad doing when I was a kid and now it just… comes out. Socialization is weird.
Same. It’s a half “nice of you” and half “I’m going now and I’m making that clear” mostly so I don’t get run over.
So weird though. Two humans walking at the same intersection will usually both try to find a suitable way around one another. Of course there are exceptions, but generally, pretty even and respectful encounter.
Throw one of those humans behind the wheel of a car and a TON of them behave completely different. As if the people walking don’t deserve the space in the world. Or that they don’t have the right to be “in the way.”
I try very hard to be a courteous driver and pedestrian, but just can’t believe how many greedy, selfish drivers there are. Eye opening if you walk around a lot.
Well, yeah, two humans at the same intersection can sidestep, move at snail’s pace and weigh roughly as much as a small donkey or a large dog.
Give one of those apes a literal ton of metal hurling itself at cheetah speeds at the slightest provocation and able only to sort of slightly alter its trajectory in a bit of a parabola and the power dynamics understandably shift a bit.
Here’s a fun note, I’m from a place where pedestrian crossings are seen as a mild invitation to slow down, so I tend to wait to see the car fully stopped before I do the magic handwave thing and cross. When I moved to a different country where stopping is seen as mandatory as long as there is anybody waiting to cross I got a TON of angry gestures hurled at me for doing that because drivers thought I was wasting their time by crossing too slowly.
Still can’t bring myself to jump in front of the self-propelled metal missile coming my way at lethal speeds without at least seeing some slowing down, though.
In parking lots, I usually don’t even make eye contact. I mean I keep the cars in the corner of my vision so I don’t get killed, but it’s their job to not hit me, I’m not going to duck and dodge around them.
I do this particularly in parking lots because those drivers are 2 minutes from becoming pedestrians themselves, so it seems fitting.
I usually walk just a little more leisurely than I normally would, so the car has to wait two seconds longer.
But if the driver is an asshole (sometimes, when I have the right of way or am already in the middle of the street when they come along they will honk at me to move faster) I stop dead in my tracks, turn and look at them like “are you trying to warn me of something? What are you tryjbg to alert me of?”. Because honking isn’t supposed to be your anger relief when something is not going as you want.
Are you sure they’re not just doing normal eye contact to make sure they’re not getting run over? It’s more or less taught like that here in Germany.
Positive 😄 i went to marbella for a medical thing and stayed in the old town, and when the hospital sent a car to pick me up, people were very annoyed every time.
