A close encounter with the jaywalking squad
On my way home from work today, I saw four large men in uniform standing on each corner of St. Catherine and Peel. Well, not quite on the corners, but on the street facing the corners where pedestrians were waiting for the light to change. The guards stood with their backs to the flow of traffic, their burly arms folded in front of chests emblazoned with the word “CADET.” They did not smile.
As I waited, a street kid approached the guard standing closest to me. “Excuse me, sir?” he asked, not at all politely. “Are you standing there to keep us from crossing the street?” The guard grunted, “Yeh.” There was a tense pause as the guard and the street kid surveyed each other, the street kid shifting his weight from one foot to another, the guard perfectly still.
Then, the street kid cleared his throat. “I’m sorry, bro, but that’s really fucking stupid.” The guard bristled. I quickly stifled a laugh.
The street kid continued. “No, seriously, that’s totally fucking stupid! You’re gonna stand here all day, like you’re a bouncer or some shit, just to keep us from crossing the street when we’re not supposed to? Are you fucking kidding me? This is fucking Montreal, man!”
A crowd gathered as the street kid danced before the guard, his index finger rising. “Shit, man… look at you! It’s like there’s a motherfucking war on, with soldiers all over the place, except you’re trying to keep us from crossing the street! Un-fucking-believable!” The guard’s jaw clenched under his closed lips. The crowd began to titter.
Then, the light changed. Fuming, the guard stepped aside to let us cross. When we reached the other side of St. Catherine, the street kid stopped and looked at me. “It is really fucking stupid, isn’t it?”
I nodded vigorously. “Yeah, it really fucking is.”
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It’s about slowly changing habits. Sure, the next corner, where there was no one, you probably just crossed on the red light. But with at least 18 deaths of pedestrians in the last year I think somehow waiting a couple of seconds for the green light isn’t so bad. It’s just sad that the cadets have to be there and that Montrealers can’t just do it on their own.
“It’s just sad that the cadets have to be there and that Montrealers can’t just do it on their own.”
I think it’s sad that the government uses men in uniform to protect people from their own stupidity.
i learned how to be a professional jaywalker in Montreal. the secret is that if you can see the whites of a driver’s eyes as you cross in front of him it is much harder for him to run you down.
I have no problem with jaywalking, as long as it’s done smartly, i.e. not when a car is zooming by full-speed…
And yet, the other night I almost got hit by a car coming out of the indoors parking next to the Avis car rental on Metcalfe. Meh.