Silly me, I thought this was one of those unspoken universally abided by rules. And most times in most places it is. Even in the UK, while they drive on the left they still walk on the right. If you ignored this pathway preference in New York you’d get screamed at, chest bumped or some other acknowledgment of your stupidity.
But for some reason the rule hasn’t made its way to Philadelphia (my new home) and when I call people on it, they look completely bewildered. I’m a one man vigilante pedestrian in the City of Questionable Love. I even do a little hand signal making them aware they’re about to crash into me, but it does nothing. Well I refuse to yield to the left so crashing into these heathens is a frequent event. It’s like bumper cars out there on the city streets.
Adding fuel to the fire, the sidewalks are much more narrow in Philadelphia than Manhattan. Due to this, many people don’t yield to the right nor the left. They just stroll down the middle. YOU CAN’T DO THAT. There isn’t a law but there should be. And let’s throw grocery stores into the mix. Head on collisions galore. I’ve had eggs crack from the impact.
I see no chance of improvement, especially when the grade school kids hit the streets at 3:00 and are either all over the place or in one straight line (like a company front in a military parade) forcing moi into the streets and ongoing traffic. If they’re doing this at age eight, what’s gonna happen when they grow and/or fatten up? The obliviousness starts at a young age so the reconditioning seems impossible.
Well I’m sticking to the yield to the right rule. It might not be the best right of passage but it’s what I love, honor and obey.