Crossing the Street

I've had a little problem for quite a while now. It's going to sound like I'm an ungrateful wretch. But if I can save one person from enduring the torment I've had to go through, it's worth it.

The problem is this: I will be standing at the curb. It's obvious I want to cross the street or parking lot. And so cars coming will slow down and stop, right in the middle of traffic, to let me cross. At first glance it seems like a nice thing, right? Well IT'S NOT AND I WISH THEY WOULD KEEP GOING!

My point is this: just get out of my way already so I can cross SAFELY. Usually I'll have little kids with me, or else I'll be all loaded down with a baby in a car seat and shopping bags plus holding some little kid's hand. So my question to the guy stopping is, REALLY? You REALLY want me to drag all this out in front of your running vehicle while you back up traffic for no reason? REALLY?? Because I'm already stopped here, waiting for you to go somewhere else, out of my way.

To combat this extremely unwanted "courtesy" I usually avert my eyes. Sometimes they're so insistent on "being nice" that they sit and wait, even though my eyes are averted. At times like this it's convenient to have a kid around, since you can pretend you're doing something with the child or teaching him something or chatting. But the thing that brought this to a head for me, was that one day I was out with all four of my little ones and this happened. I averted my eyes and the driver eventually moved on. Then at another store, another dang driver did this to me and waited through all my eye aversion and kid-chat stalling, and then HONKED AT ME to go, even though as a mother and responsible adult, I felt it was UNSAFE TO DRAG MY CHILDREN INTO THE STREET IN FRONT OF YOUR CAR!!!! Don't HONK at me, hoser! Just move along and we'll all be SO MUCH HAPPIER!

In conclusion, I would like to applaud true courtesy, which in my view, is getting your fanny out of other people's way.