My first contribution

The topic of my first contribution to Bjorn's pages is that of pedestrians and bikers on the UMN campus. Since this is something that we see everyday together, and both hate on the same level, I thought he would appreciate it.

I'll start with pedestrians. I'm a pedestrian for the good part of my day on campus, but what sets me apart from so many of my bumbling walking cohorts is that I follow a rule my mother taught me when I was young.....Look both ways before you cross the street. I see so many students walking with their head down, talking on their cell phones or just not paying attention. At a cross walk they just walk, many times holding up traffic. There is so much jaywalking its ridiculous. This article appeared recently in the Daily. http://www.mndaily.com/articles/2006/09/29/69182
The guy in this is complaining that he got a ticket for jaywalking and that there are better things the cops could be doing. Well whether that's true or not you STILL BROKE THE LAW. Quit bitching. And I do in fact think the cop should have ticketed him. Jaywalkers on campus is a huge problem. College kids need to wake up. You can't drive anywhere you please. You can't park anywhere you please. You also can't just walk anywhere you please.

This leads me to the biking problem. Here I need to take a deep breath in, and exhale slowly. While I could write a lengthy discussion on why bikes are unnecessary and endlessly irritating, I won't, keeping my blood pressure in mind. I'll just say many of my pedestrian arguments carry over to bikes. Bikers tend to be more arrogant though. They have all the rights as cars, but don't follow the rules of cars. A biker should get ticketed for running a red light just the same as a car.

So this is what I propose. Next time you see someone on campus just walking out onto the street without looking both ways, don't wait for them. Speed forward and hit them. Don't kill or maim them by any means, but at least give them a good scare. And next time you pass by a bike rack, let all the airs out of the tires. If not because you too hate bikes, but to make my day.

I will not be affiliated with any happenings of future tire deflating, or pedestrian scaring