Jaywalking

Edinburgh pedestrians are brazen.

Intersections and zebra crossings (pronounced zEH-bra, not zee-bra) are there for when traffic's backed up. But most of the time people here just use their own eyesight and spatial awareness to judge whether crossing the street is doable. Imagine that!

They weave in between cars that are stopped at traffic lights. They walk right along the edge of the pavement as double-decker buses whoosh by, inches from their shoulders. They cross the road in two acts, going halfway and balancing on the centre median until they spot an opportunity to jet across.

Edinburgh pedestrians will dash in front of an approaching car leaving just milliseconds' room for error. Drivers are equally ballsy, staying firm or even accelerating as they approach darting pedestrians. The message is clear: pick up the pace, or die.

The closer you get to Leith, the crazier the foot traffic. The neighbourhood in north Edinburgh is known for being rough around the edges, but its pedestrians are city-walking virtuosos. From the bus window this evening I spotted:

• A young mother with a special-needs child in a stroller and a German Shepard crossing the road as a van sped straight toward them. I gasped as I saw her go for it. But she timed it perfectly. 

• A pack of 'youths' bustling down the side of the road, play-fighting and throwing things at each other as cars zoomed past at 35mph. I thought about screaming, "Be careful!" out the bus window, but I held back. 

• An ancient man with terrible scoliosis and a fabulous trench coat inch-worming his way across the busy street through rush hour traffic—no zebra crossing needed. 

Ol' Droopy Legs McGee
Image via Wikimedia Commons

Perhaps being surrounded by meandering tourists has inspired the locals to be extra savvy on foot. Stupid tourists! We'll show them how it's done! Or maybe it's all the freezing wind and rain that encourages people to get to their destination as quickly as possible.

As for me, I'm conflicted about the pedestrian culture over here. It pits two of my favourite things against each other: Efficiency vs. Safety. I love both so much.

I can't stand in-between time, so I speed-walk everywhere. But I'm extremely risk-averse, so I avoid walking under scaffolding and I stand three feet back from the curb at the bus stop. I'm totally down with the swift pace of Edinburgh walkers, but their devil-may-care approach to road crossing makes me nervous.

Andy always does risky road crossings, leaving me standing at the curb like a big, scared baby. He laughs and shakes his head at me as I wait patiently for the light to change. What a smug Libra. But just wait until he's in Seattle where drivers and pedestrians gather daily to hold hands, dance around a May pole, braid each other's hair and sing Kum Ba Yah.

Love,
Margaret

P.S. Perez Hilton is on the UK Big Brother and he's sooooo annoying. Like way worse than you'd even expect, and I expected him to be pretty bad. Michelle Visage on the other hand (lots of Americans this year) is killing it. She's the bookies' favourite to win.