Road Rage

So last night was a disaster. Something went wrong at the 9:30 Club and the Fire Department had to evacuate the building. It wouldn't have been quite as sucky for the club if this happened in the middle of The Wreckers concert. Instead, this went down at a show that sold out in less than ten minutes. On a farewell tour no less. Lots of suckage there. Thankfully, Sleater-Kinney will be back on August 3, so, no complaints. All the kids crying in the U Street alleys after the evacuation can cheer up.

I certainly wouldn't dream of criticizing the 9:30 Club for this fiasco. I mean, if your transformers overheat, what other option do you have? And blaming the Fire Department would be ludicrous. I just hope they get these problems fixed by Thursday.

Instead of complaining about the evacuation, I will complain about a dangerous little habit I've noticed in DC's drivers. I decided to walk from my office in Golden Triangle to the 9:30 Club on 9th and V. (Two miles in 100 degree heat. I don't know what I was thinking.) Across from the Liberty Gas Station on V Street, there is a crosswalk. I shouldn't have to remind you that, in the absence of "walk/don't walk" lights, pedestrians have the absolute right of way. It would be madness to just walk across the street without looking both ways; proper precautions still apply. But when I walk across the street, I expect cars to slow down.

Yesterday, a car sped up. It got close enough that I felt the need to sprint out of the way. That's some scary shit. This isn't the first time this has happened to me either. Anecdotal Evidence A: The intersection of Wisconsin and Garrison. Anecdotal Evidence B: The intersection of Massachusetts and Macomb. The latter is especially frightening during rush hour when cars are racing to get to the Marylanfd suburbs as fast as possible.

Why do DC drivers do this? I've had the same frightening experience a few times now. And it isn't like these cars are maintaining speed. They are noticeably accelerating. Like, you can hear their engines rev. What a psychotic thing to do when someone is crossing the street. People who do this have broken brains.

I know New York and The New England Commonwealth That Will Not Be Named have the same pedestrian laws. Drivers there actually stop for you. Both of those states are bright red in Schuyler's wonderful map. Yet drivers there, in my experience, don't actively try to scare the living bejesus out of pedestrians. So not only are DC drivers stupid, they are also aggressively dangerous.

I don't own a car, so I shouldn't have any reason to complain about bad driving. Yet here we are.