news flash
the state of massachusetts is stupid. i'm talking bag of hammers, 2+2=5 ...stupid.
today on my way home from work, i approached one of our many many busy * intersections. this particular intersection (see figure 1) has a lot of special features. those features include, but are not limited to, the following:
-split 4-way traffic light
-railroad track
-a one-block-removed intersection that is constantly blocked by the line of cars trying to get through the main intersection
anyway, today, i am sitting on the crosswalk of the second intersection (figure 2; position A) so that i don't block the oncoming cars as they try and turn left toward the high school. this is normal and is strangely where i end up almost daily. the strange part is that i look ahead to my left and see that they are working on the
railroad track. apparently, 4:30 on a monday is the perfect time to block an entire lane of traffic in a major intersection. i mean, at that time of day, the trains only come every, what, 10-15 minutes? perfect time to work.
ok, so whatever. this should only affect the traffic moving across the intersection. not my direction.
our light turns green and i (as i do, again, almost daily) pull forward into the intersection anticipating the line in front of me to move through the green light. i was surprised to see no one in front of me moving at all. complete standstill despite a clear green light. what the hell? the light turns red and then i see the cop ** directing traffic. at least i assumed he was directing traffic. "ok," i think to myself. "that makes sense, i guess."
so, here i am, in the middle of the second intersection, blocking all traffic from turning left across my lane. i was apologetic, but really, what could i do? the light turned green. i pulled forward. deal with it.
our light turns green again...and AGAIN, no one moves. two solid green lights now and i have moved 10 feet. still blocking the intersection, starting to get pissed. this is where i am.
then, i notice the cop start to wave our line through. our light was red, but whatever...he is obviously an intelligent and well-organized professional. let's go.
the 8 or so cars ahead of me all turn left and cross the railroad tracks. i get close to the light (figure 3; position B) and notice that the cop seems to be walking my direction with a confused look on his face. he gives me the "hold on a second" sign and looks up at the light above him. he turns to me and yells "it's red. you can't go through it!"
i think to myself that i must have heard him wrong. so, i roll down my window and yell "aren't you directing traffic? we just sat through 2 green lights." he looked at me as if i had just beaten his only 9 year-old son with a garden hose.
"what did you say?" he yelled sternly.
"i said, we just sat through 2 green lights. are you directing traffic or not?"
"none of that is my problem." he responded.
i just stared at him. i really wanted to press it and see if i could get him to snap or to at least get the chance to point out that he had been standing right in the middle of the only passable lane of traffic on cabot street, but just then, my light turned green and i tore into the intersection half praying that there were cars coming crosswise and that i would hit them..right in front of officer friendly...who was, at this point, wandering over toward the workers on the track and no where near directing traffic.
i made it home and secretly thought how cool it would have been to really piss him off and get hauled off to the station. that may have made my week.
as it turned out. it's just another reason to not drive here in the commonwealth.
* - the term "busy" in regard to an intersection is just masshole speak for "poorly planned."
** - police officers don't do anything here. the only time you will see one actually of his/her car is when they are guarding a construction site.
today on my way home from work, i approached one of our many many busy * intersections. this particular intersection (see figure 1) has a lot of special features. those features include, but are not limited to, the following:
-split 4-way traffic light
-railroad track
-a one-block-removed intersection that is constantly blocked by the line of cars trying to get through the main intersection
anyway, today, i am sitting on the crosswalk of the second intersection (figure 2; position A) so that i don't block the oncoming cars as they try and turn left toward the high school. this is normal and is strangely where i end up almost daily. the strange part is that i look ahead to my left and see that they are working on the
railroad track. apparently, 4:30 on a monday is the perfect time to block an entire lane of traffic in a major intersection. i mean, at that time of day, the trains only come every, what, 10-15 minutes? perfect time to work.
ok, so whatever. this should only affect the traffic moving across the intersection. not my direction.
our light turns green and i (as i do, again, almost daily) pull forward into the intersection anticipating the line in front of me to move through the green light. i was surprised to see no one in front of me moving at all. complete standstill despite a clear green light. what the hell? the light turns red and then i see the cop ** directing traffic. at least i assumed he was directing traffic. "ok," i think to myself. "that makes sense, i guess."
so, here i am, in the middle of the second intersection, blocking all traffic from turning left across my lane. i was apologetic, but really, what could i do? the light turned green. i pulled forward. deal with it.
our light turns green again...and AGAIN, no one moves. two solid green lights now and i have moved 10 feet. still blocking the intersection, starting to get pissed. this is where i am.
then, i notice the cop start to wave our line through. our light was red, but whatever...he is obviously an intelligent and well-organized professional. let's go.
the 8 or so cars ahead of me all turn left and cross the railroad tracks. i get close to the light (figure 3; position B) and notice that the cop seems to be walking my direction with a confused look on his face. he gives me the "hold on a second" sign and looks up at the light above him. he turns to me and yells "it's red. you can't go through it!"
i think to myself that i must have heard him wrong. so, i roll down my window and yell "aren't you directing traffic? we just sat through 2 green lights." he looked at me as if i had just beaten his only 9 year-old son with a garden hose.
"what did you say?" he yelled sternly.
"i said, we just sat through 2 green lights. are you directing traffic or not?"
"none of that is my problem." he responded.
i just stared at him. i really wanted to press it and see if i could get him to snap or to at least get the chance to point out that he had been standing right in the middle of the only passable lane of traffic on cabot street, but just then, my light turned green and i tore into the intersection half praying that there were cars coming crosswise and that i would hit them..right in front of officer friendly...who was, at this point, wandering over toward the workers on the track and no where near directing traffic.
i made it home and secretly thought how cool it would have been to really piss him off and get hauled off to the station. that may have made my week.
as it turned out. it's just another reason to not drive here in the commonwealth.
* - the term "busy" in regard to an intersection is just masshole speak for "poorly planned."
** - police officers don't do anything here. the only time you will see one actually of his/her car is when they are guarding a construction site.
posted by cade at 3:12 PM
2 Comments:
i got jammed up at the same intersection today and i'm glad you gave the BPD officer some sh*t. those guys need to be knocked on their entitled asses every once in a while.*
* not that i would ever take such action against one of beverly's finest. that would be disrespectful.
Dude I am SO with you on this. You find that guy, get his badge number and report the whole thing, complete with maps, although I would leave the "stupid ass" part out. Dumbass cop. The only reason why there is ever traffic that bad is usually BECAUSE of a stupid cop getting overtime plus time and a half on a construction site. I had nearly the same thing happen to me on Route 38 in Tewksbury once and I figured it was more than okay to blow my horn since I was three cars back from Stupid Cop-how's he going to figure out it's me? I could deny it. I even looked surprised as I did it, like, "Wow! Who could be blowing their horn at a cop? What balls!" Once I blew the horn, suddenly the air was filled with car horns and the cop nearly jumped ten feet and moved a ton of cars in our line through.
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