I have seen a lot of strange things in my time. And I have seen a lot of stupid people in my time. But what I witnessed today was one of the strangest and stupidest things I have ever seen a person do.
It has always irritated me when drivers are too ignorant, lazy, stupid, careless or in too much of a hurry to slow down and pull over when an emergency vehicle is blaring its siren for people to get out of the way. Virtually every time there is such an emergency, there are drivers who blatantly disregard the fact that their failure to give way could mean someone loses their life.
On this day, I was approaching the street (as a pedestrian) when I heard a nearby siren. I looked in the direction of the sound and watched an ambulance slowly cross against a red light. As it approached a second traffic light very near me, the light turned red. It stopped at the intersection with its siren blaring away, waiting to make sure the way was clear to proceed. Simultaneously, a teen-aged school girl stepped off the sidewalk perpendicular to the ambulance across the street. All cars and pedestrians had stopped and looked on at the scene unfolding.
The girl nonchalantly strolled across the street seemingly oblivious to the blaring siren and flashing lights of the ambulance stopped not 30 feet away. She did not stop and signal for the ambulance to pass. She did not quicken her pace so as not to delay the ambulance further. In fact, she did not even look up at the ambulance. What she
did do, and I imagine it was because she felt all eyes were on her and she was feeling self conscious, was raise a hand to her hair and lightly brush it aside. It was so surreal that it seemed I was having a dream.
As she reached the opposite side and the ambulance finally started on its way again, I wanted to rush up to her and scream "WAKE UP, YOU MORON!"
Here's a visual aid of the scene:
