Farmer’s Market
Why the hell is the Farmer’s Market so crowded? I know it’s awesome and all, but the crowds create uber-suckage status. I go there at 7:30AM; I go there at 11AM. It doesn’t make a difference. I feel like I’m on a NYC Subway at rush hour. Try walking through tightly packed sardines trying to find something to eat. It’s not fun. Waiting 10 minutes for a donut? Dodging baby carriages that take up the entire width of the pedestrian area? Family of 6, plus 4 grandparents, plus 2 nannys yelling above everyone else? When will it end? That place is so overcrowded, I am starting to avoid it like the plague.
Aioli
Every (i.e. not every, but MANY) freaking Aioli in this town is Hellmann’s mayonaise with added crap. That’s not aioli! There is a reason they call it Hellmann’s. It is a gelatenous gob of tasteless fat. Get with the program, chefs. Impress me and let me know where I can get the real raw egg shizzle that tastes like ambrosia.
UNCUS Cover
The cover reads Single Streamin’ Comminglin’ which sounds like a porn movie gone wrong. It makes no sense.
Gunshots Late at Night
They freak me out. People near me have been killed. Babies have been killed. What gives? Maybe we should realize these crimes occur in specific parts of the city and do something about it.
Forgot this one… Mixed Drink Prices
$9 Dollars is now the standard price for a 99% ice, 1% booze mixed drink with a really fancy name. I like throwing money away, but seriously where can you find mixed drinks in this town for a decent price?
I have a lot more, but they aren’t local. What are yours?
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Popularity: 80% [?]
Tagged as: Charlottesville, complaints, farmer, Food, gunshot, issues, rant, UNCUS
Once you hear enough gunshots, you learn to tune them out.
Tune Them Out (def) verb: Remove bullets from head.
why are you separating pairs?
in soviet russia, pears separate you
I hear your pain, God of Thunder. Drink and food prices in this town are getting ridiculous. I was in Philly recently and, seriously, you could eat out for about 10%-20% less than in C’ville. And that includes everything from a deli to a fine dining establishment. And this was downtown Philly! I love the Hook, but the cost of living here is starting to get out of hand.
re: Gunshots late at night
Most cities “do something about it” in the form of gentrification. Force people out of their homes to who cares where and presto! problem solved. It’s still happening in Belmont, it’s ever-increasing in Fifeville & 10th st. area, and there has always been a strong contingent trying to find any way they can to “relocate” Garrett Square. I know gunshots are scary to hear, but try to imagine how scary they are for the people living right next door, the targets of the shots, and even, yes, the people shooting. Let’s do something about it for them.
/I hear ya on the drinks tho. I used to serve one drink that was priced so high that, in buying two of them, you’d just paid what it cost the restaurant to buy the whole bottle. That’s why I drink straight bourbon and/or Guinness and only go to bartenders I know.
1. buy airplane bottles of booze at ABC store.
2. buy sodas or juice at bars.
3. PROFIT!
@5 that i agree with.. the cost of living here, compared to other similarly sized cities, is really strange.
simple supply and demand i guess.. you get a place where everyone wants to live, prices go up, and there you go. philly has a much larger area (obviously) to handle the demand, have real low-income areas, etc etc.
the actual area of c-ville is really ridiculously small. when you have people complaining that going up 29N or up to Pantops as being ‘too far’, of course the prices of stuff in the center of the city will increase due to the demand.
@6 I do live next door to it. They aren’t scary once they become part of your existence. For the most part, the gunshots are from low caliber weapons at a slower and methodical enough rate that makes me think it’s just some jabronis target shooting in their backyard. Dangerous: yes. Illegal: most likely. But it’s not murder.
If you’re going to the farmer’s market for fruits & veggies, try the one on Wednesday in mead park. There aren’t as many of the crafty vendors & a fraction of the people.
whoopsie…that would be Meade Park…
X-Lounge. It’s my new least favorite bar at on weekend nights. DJ playing awful music, stupid flat screen TV showing distracting and pointless silent music videos, and yes, $10 drinks. Lame.
Right on, Ethan. Just saying that typically, governments solve their own problems, not the actual problems of others. If there’s violence happening, it would be nice to try to confront the reasons why, rather than relocating or imprisoning people.
Well, I know a lot of us are pretty bummed about the lack of live music venues, but this little nugget just came across my desk. I apologize if this is old hat, but it’s the first I’ve heard of it:
http://www.c-ville.com/index.php?cat=1993006083668278&act=post&pid=12091507080925395
“While the Jefferson Theater remains a cloaked work-in-progress, the curtain is slowly being drawn on a new music venue in town. Coran Capshaw’s Red Light Management is taking the steps to open a music venue at 608 Preston Ave., in a space connected to the King Lumber building.”
X Lounge is my new favorite bar on weekends. If you’re lucky, you can have shenanigans serving drinks and belmonty o DJing simultaneously. Throw in a couple girls dancing on the bar, and what more could you ask for?
@12 - Dave, brace yourself, buddy…
I’m not commenting on your opinion, just giving you a fair head’s up.
@13 I agree.
Fuck Coran Capshaw. There’s already a venue on Preston.
I have to add my rant here, and it’s probably going to be unpopular.
I have a SERIOUS problem with the pedestrians in this town (specifically on Water and Market Streets) and how they assume that they can just jump out into a crosswalk and be magically protected from the car, truck or motorcycle bearing down on them. I understand that there are a couple of intersections with “Yield to peds in crosswalk” signs, but that is not a granting of right-of-way, you douchebags! You still have to wait until the way is clear to cross the street. It doesn’t help that all these good samaritan-y drivers stop for theses people EVEN IF THEY’RE NOT IN THE CROSSWALK YET, making me even more late for whatever I’m on my way to (usually work). I have a message for these people too (and the GS drivers who stop and hold up a line of cars to let other cars turn through on streets like Park @ the bypass): You’re creating a lot more bad Karmic juju in the people you’re holding up than good feeling in the one or two people you’re letting through. Suck it up and let them wait.
/prepares self for onslaught, hides in couch cushion fort under desk.
While the Outback has it’s niche, it certainly isn’t on the same level as far as music or diversity of genres as Satellite or Starr Hill were. I’m not dissing Outback, I like going there, but due to their size they can’t handle bands we are missing out on. There can be two music venues on the same street serving different audiences. A venue that can hold 600+ people isn’t going to take business away from Outback.
It’s still happening in Belmont
Your got damn right it is! Wait… what ware we talking about?
DJ playing awful music
Hey that’s me! yay!
as many of the crafty vendors
Crafty crafty vendors and their small damp hands. Only a step above carnies if you ask me, which you didn’t.
So thor. We have a rant section now? Shall I address the obvious fashion tragedy of socks and sandals?
@wingnut, i will slaughter your vehicle.
@18: IF the pedestrian is not in the crosswalk or at an intersection, then you have every right to be upset, but as long as there is a crosswalk or intersection, the car is legally required to stop and let the pedestrian cross the street.
Ҥ 46.2-924. Drivers to stop for pedestrians; installation of certain signs; penalty.
A. The driver of any vehicle on a highway shall yield the right-of-way to any pedestrian crossing
such highway:
1. At any clearly marked crosswalk, whether at mid-block or at the end of any block;
2. At any regular pedestrian crossing included in the prolongation of the lateral boundary lines of
the adjacent sidewalk at the end of a block;
3. At any intersection when the driver is approaching on a highway or street where the legal
maximum speed does not exceed 35 miles per hour.”
@22 thanks.. i am certainly one of the people wingnut described, in both the walking and driving aspect. i had seen so many other people do it that i assumed it had to be a local law here, or just custom.
if i’m driving in DC though, no way in hell am i stopping for you, and also no way as a pedestrian am i blindly walking out into intersections.
@18 Agree. And, if I may add to the list, how about drivers not paying attention to the stop light when it turns green, hesitating precious seconds before moving, delaying the entire flow of traffic through the intersection such that the light turns red JUST WHEN I GET TO THE INTERSECTION! People, we’ve got too many cars and not enough roads. Drive like you have somewhere to go!
The Meade Park farmers market on Wednesday afternoons forbids any crafts. It’s farmers and their food. The way it oughta be.
@18 I can deal with the people in the crosswalk — I give them points for using it at all. My problem is with the people who treat Market and Water streets like it’s someone’s yard they just have to stroll through, at any point in the road, to get to the other side. Even when there’s a crosswalk a few feet away. And then they walk on a diagonal path across the road so it takes them even longer to cross. There is a crosswalk EVERY block. It’s not that hard.
On the green light point, I have to disagree a little. That kind of hesitation basically just saved my sister’s life. Someone ran a red light and hit her, and would have plowed directly into the driver’s side door if it hadn’t been for her hesitation. Instead, it just hit the front of her car. The way people run red lights around these parts, I definitely wait a moment when lights turn green.
@23: Is there a place in the US where the law isn’t “pedestrians have the right of way”?
The Meade Park farmers market on Wednesday afternoons forbids any crafts
Excepting witch and HP Love.
/has seen the cauldrons and books behind the booths.
@26 Fair point. But maybe the red light runners would be less inclined to run a red light if all of the drivers ahead of them paid attention and moved along efficiently through the intersection?
…can’t stand when people don’t drive on green
@20. I’m sure you’re DJing skills are off the hook, and did not mean to impugn them, seriously. I intended no offense, I just dont feel the scene there.
@27 probably not, but driving in the downtown mall area seems to be totally different than any other city i’ve driven in, or even other parts of c-ville.
As long as we’re ranting here….I cannot stand it when I see drivers throw cigarette butts out of the window. Have you ever noticed the mountains of cigarettes along medians and at stoplights in this town? It’s disgusting. I’m not a big hater on smokers - it’s your choice to smoke. Here’s my thing - you throw the butts out because they smell bad/are generally gross, right? The rest of us think so too - THATS WHY WE DONT SMOKE IN THE FIRST PLACE. Fucking suck it up and shoulder the consequences of your choices.
Littering while driving gets me too - can you really not keep it in the car until you get to your destination?
Anyone else bothered by this? Smokers, care to chime in?
@31 Well I’ve only played there a few times, and Im usually so busy having stage fright and panic attacks that I don’t really have a chance to “feel the scene”. And please feel free to impugn mah skills, I wont take it personally. Im really not all that great - mostly just a to b stuff. I just have access to a bunch of really weird toons. Remixes, you know, to fuck up 26 world’s pre-prepared dance moves…
I do like the sound system at x, and of course the off the chain macaroni and cheese!
@33 motorcyclists hate that even more than you. getting lit cigarette butts flying towards you at 55mph that can damage your gear, or worst of all, get stuck inside your jacket or helmet if you have it part way open is a serious hazard. there’s enough to worry about on the road already without people throwing mini-fireballs.
Aha… I have a combo rant. Yesterday afternoon I had to drive past Meade Park a gazillion times and it was a mess of idiots trying to park along a busy street. This stupid witch just walked straight out across Meade Ave without looking either way, instead choosing to rummage in her plastic bag full of locally grown tomatoes or some other plump and luscious trophy produce. So anyway, I think I taught her a new word…she won’t forget me anytime soon. I fucking despise street lemmings. How do they survive into adulthood?
Hey B’yo, have you seen this awesome, brand-new internet video that’s going around of all these prisoners in the Philippines who reenact the Thriller dance out in the prison yard? It’s amazing. And totally new. I think it will be an internet sensation.
/will stomp your yard, possums and all.
@35 Chad I hear there is nothing worse than a lit ciggy butt stuck inside your helmet.
“How do they survive into adulthood”
If we didn’t have laws protecting them, Darwin would take care of it.
@39 Smiley…. I know Darwin Awards usually involve natural selection( ie death) but this one appeared on one Darwin list and still makes me chortle…
After stopping for drinks at an illegal bar, a Zimbabwean bus driver found that the 20 mental patients he was supposed to be transporting from Harare to Bulawayo had escaped. Not wanting to admit his incompetence, the driver went to a nearby bus stop and offered everyone waiting there a free ride. He then delivered the passengers to the mental hospital, telling the staff that the patients were very excitable and prone to bizarre fantasies. The deception wasn’t discovered for 3 days.
I hate it when pedestrians walk in my ashtray.
Get your facts straight before you go dissing on restaurants’ food… there’s plenty of real, handmade aioli in this town. Mas’ aioli is hand beat on a daily basis from fresh eggs and olive oil.
@22 Is it legal for people to cross against the “Don’t Walk” signs? I nearly killed someone today because of it.
@26 When I’m the first car in line, I begin driving as soon as the light turns green. There’s nothing better than scaring the shit out of someone that decided to enter the intersection AFTER the light turns red. WTF is that about? Why is that the new craze now?
I do realize that it’s mean and a bit unsafe, but I’d like to think that it stops them from doing it again. I’m here to teach.
hand beat on a daily basis
Oh, at least once. Wait, what?
@42.. well ya, but what about bizou, cassis, mono loco, etc etc
@44… what IS your equivalent of ‘beat the meat’ since you are a veggy?
Can’t speak to that, Thor, but “every freaking Aioli in this town” was a pretty careless generalization
@46: Soysauge!
Someone has a hand-beaten soft spot.
/clarified
Jack…. I recently vrooomed straight at a dickwad that did a ‘right on red’ turn into my lane at Rio/29N. His Hanes must have needed a whole tub of Oxyclean. Precious.
re: farmers market. I agree, Meade park is the one to go to, not really crowded at all and if I need anything else I can pop right over to cville market just down the street. 3-7 every wednesday
plus I don’t have to get up early on a Saturday…which is always a plus, cause I don’t do well with that.
@ 46 what IS your equivalent of ‘beat the meat’ since you are a veggy?
I call it masturbation.
Oh… I though you might ‘toy with the tofu’ or similiar euphemism…. like 434,baby! suggested… strangle the soysauge sounds excellent.
Jerk the Tofurky?
toy with the tofu
Firm style!
HAHAHA… Burp the Boca Burger
this is an awesome thread for lurkers… look at everyone just showing the umbrage!
- X Lounge is really nice and I still like it, but I used to love that I could go there and people watch in a swank environment and have good conversations. the last two times I’ve been, it’s been soooo loud my ears hurt, so I go outside and it’s sooo loud outside I still can’t hear people two seats away from me. this was few weeks ago. I’m told the whole soundsystem is linked to only one volume?? help!
- I understand feeling bad about gentrification and I sympathize with the poor in ways I won’t elaborate on, but to equate gentrification with a forced migration is a *bit* simplistic. If people have owned their homes forever and now they’re being taxed out of them because property values have skyrocketed, in some circles that’s called a “good investment.” And having wealthier people move into the city as opposed to living out in the white flight suburbs benefits the community in a lot of ways. just saying.
- “Drive like you have somewhere to go!” is the most accurate critique yet.
I’m just surprised that no one has ranted about why we are discussing vegetarian self abuse.
/nice lurkies out there today
//Is Shen sulking? 26World you hurt her feelings yesterday
@ 56 Milk my soy beans!
@ 57 X lounge’s sound system is a thing of beauty. One of the owner’s is a (former?) sound installation rep for bose, and the restaurant is sort of aa show piece for that gig. Many many speakers all over the joint, all controlled by a computer up in the dj booth. All the nodes have limiters so the sound in theory should be about the same no matter where you go in the joint (even the bathroom!). That twelve foot tube that hangs from the ceiling in the front corner, yep, a massive subwoofer. The dj has some control over the volume from the decks, but its sometimes hard to gage. Im partially deaf so its especially hard for me, and I rely on constant advice from bartenders/servers/patrons/police.
yes, the sound system is elaborate. but perhaps it shouldn’t be the same volume on the dance floor as in an upstairs corner as in the outdoors? or, if it is the same volume, perhaps one that is not so insane? granted, my experiences were not when you were djing. I can’t remember having a problem on those nights.
@57 Except that in many places, it’s more than about just the homes. It’s about communities and neighborhoods and families and extended families staying together. Gentrification and displacement aren’t simple concepts, I completely agree, but sometimes it’s more than just about being compensated in money, especially when you’re often only seen as a commodity or a means to an end for someone else (i.e., now that you’re “good” for something, people pay attention). It’s the logic the Supreme Court and other branches of government have taken for years — it has to be seen as a benefit to white people, or a benefit to wealthy people before it can be entertained as an idea.
Having money invested in a community benefits the community, sure. But I think it’s presumptive to say that the wealthy people moving in themselves necessarily benefit the community. I mean, whose community are you talking about, really? Wealthy people move in, and a corner store becomes a Banana Republic or something. Money goes to Banana Republic, etc.
The word “diversity” has become a four-letter word to me.
/I’ll shut up and step down from soapbox now. I know it’s a lot more complicated than this.
@56: Beet meat
@58 I’m sure nobody puts Shen in a corner.
@61: word. I’m playing some devils advocate mostly, because I feel you 100%. but to the statement: “But I think it’s presumptive to say that the wealthy people moving in themselves necessarily benefit the community.” I’m thinking more like, streets are a bit safer, historic homes are restored and maintained, the government is more willing to pay to maintain the infrastructure, not to mention there is less demand for suburban sprawl, etc.
@64 Word to that. I completely agree that governments and businesses and police departments pay more attention to communities once wealthy people move in. And I’m all about anti-sprawl, pro-New-Urbanism (sort of) and what-have-yous.
@63 Perhaps she has been actually *gasp* working today, like I have been for the past couple of weeks.
*resume lurk mode*
whoa, shout out to New Urbanism, all capitalized and stuff. I knew I liked you.
@12: Yeah, those videos are pretty pointless. So don’t watch them. It’s really easy, you just turn to the person next to you and start talking. Problem solved.
Hope the DJ playing awful music isn’t B-yo that you’re referring to. Cuz he rocks. If you mean that goofy guy who makes announcements, sorry you don’t dig his selection. He gets chicks on the bar though. Stop concentrating on how much you hate the music and watch the drunk girls jiggling their booties.
And cocktails are $7-9. The average price at most downtown bars.
i vote for tuffy.
and my rant is connected to all the driving/traffic issues:
as smiley@24 said just before the already lauded “drive like you have somewhere to go”.
“People, we’ve got too many cars and not enough roads”.
hey! what about some reliable “World Class City” public transportation to go with the fancy new downtown transportation center?!
maybe a metro rail concept that could run 29s from the airport down to 64, a leg off down mainstreet to ?ridge? monticello/20s to piedmont/Monticello (shuttle up to both the college and TJ’s).
unlike buses, light rails (metros, whatev) are timed with traffic-lights so no stop =quicker. more reliable and accessible routes =less traffic.
and hey, if you wanna be able listen to your own music, trade your car in for an mp3 player. also, this way napping on the way to work or home is even safe. it might even be fun. and we can start by using that money that keeps wanting to be spent on meadowcreek parkway. one of the stupidist agruments i hear for building that is that “if we (the city) don’t use the money the state gave us, we’re gonna have to give it back”.
then so many less worries of red/light/green/light (non)use-of-directionals(one of my big pet peeves but that is not specific to C-ville. unfortunately, that is everywhere).
it should also take care of any non-sanctioned pedestrian crossing patterns along it’s route.
/all it takes is one time thinking body vs. train can win
And I WAS ACTUALLY WORKING. thankyouverymuch
@69, my vote was directed at @62.
I can’t think of anything to rant about. Shit. I’m going to lunch.
@69 It’s like the movie Singles! We need a Supertrain. “If you give them good coffee, and great music…”
Don’t cross the street in the middle of the block.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7OavBPo2qyY&feature=related
I went to Mas last night and that aioli is the real deal. So my rant is that Thors sucks and shouldn’t be so quick to generalize.
I drive, walk and ride my bike around this town. I step into crosswalks and expect drivers who have the distance and time to safely stop to do it and I also stop for pedestrians when I drive. It’s no big deal and there’s no great time savings at all for drivers who insist on being total nitwits by forcing pedestrians to stop in the middle of the street. I don’t like it when fools step out into the steet when it isn’t clear but getting all pissed off doesn’t help either. We can all get along without letting our petty ego needs crank up our blood pressures. Anyway, if you drive into me, Wingnut or Floozy, I’m going to dent your car with my hard head and then bleed on your upholstery.
As far as the law goes, you can forget about that. The cops rarely enforce the laws regarding pedestrians and almost always ignore violations. They also can be some of the biggest offenders when it comes to courtesy and common sense.
@4a: Gracias, Thor
meant 49
@75 so shoot me..
/not a journalist
@79 She would, but then you’d rant about the gunshots.
OH SNAP
here is what mystifies me: the new, eco-friendly dry cleaners by continental divide . . . they sell/give out bottled water with their logo on it.
eco-consciousness . . . more plastic bottles of water . . . huh.
@82: That place just keeps on FAILing.
Had some awesome aioli with the hanger steak at Mas last night, definitely not Hellmans.
annoying: People who claim they want peace, love, justice, social harmony, and more but then can’t bring themselves to make eye contact and say hello to their fellow human beings on the street. Everyday as I walk to work people who get close enough to acknowledge my existence suddenly discover that a nearby power pole or sidewalk crack is very interesting and needs to be closely scrutinized. Is saying “hello” really that scary?
to all the people bitching about stopping for pedestrians…LAME. Doesn’t anyone like the fact that we stop for pedestrians in the crosswalk? I find it to be a refreshing sign of civility and dignity. When I have friends from out of town visit, it’s always a pleasant fact for them about this place. “Wow, Charlottesville is so nice, they actually stop for people in the crosswalk.” So stop being so road rage anal while in your car and take 5 seconds to let someone cross the street. Trust me, if you actually lived downtown you would be singing a different tune, Mr. I’m In Too Much of a Hurry to Stop My Car for Five Seconds. Get real people, there are things like gunshots, gentrification, and aioli to complain about that actually matter.
@85– what’s so bad about minding one’s own business, and also wanting to be left alone?
@83 You should see their new advertising campaign, it involves driving a Hummer around town and demonstrating how good they are at getting freshly beaten baby seal blood stains out of your panda fur coat.
@85: Maybe your fly is open
@85, unfortunately, for some people, yes. When people look away from me I figure they’re just unhappy…or perhaps just horrified by my appearance…either way, I’m cool with it!
@85 you bring up a good point. but talking to complete strangers on the street just makes me feel fucking weird and uncomfortable, so I don’t. Luckily, there is a time and place where we all feel okay talking to strangers in public, it’s called the bar.
87 Looking at someone, maybe even smiling and saying good morning, do you think that’s really intrusive? I’m not asking for your life story or anything at all about your business. I think that harmony begins with mutual respect and if you want to be left alone that’s just fine with me. A smile and a greeting can go a long way though.
92– I guess I’m just not interested in having my thoughts interrupted by a complete stranger when I’m trying to get from one place to another. I don’t like talking to people I’m unacquainted with/uninterested in.
A long way towards what, do you mean?
My rant is about how the Old Media like C-VILLE and The Hook are constantly stealing all of the good stories and ideas away from the New Media like cVillain. I mean look, Thor came up with this great, original idea to have a thread where we rant about Charlottesville. I am willing to bet you that those assholes like C-VILLE will promptly steal Thor’s idea and put it in their paper. Hell, Thor’s idea is so good, those pricks will probably make a weekly feature out of it. THIEVES!
/all this negativity is bringing the SNARK out of me
@86: Have you ever driven down 5th street or Preston? People will saunter out into the road nowhere near a crosswalk and take their sweet time to cross the street. In 45 mph areas. Move your ass! You may have the right of way but you are still in the middle of the road! Big hunks of metal are coming!
So yeah, cars should stop for pedestrians but some pedestrians need a reality check. Look both ways, move your ass, try to use a crosswalk if there’s one near by. You don’t own the road and even if you’re in the right, that big hunk of metal will still hurt when it hits you.
I’m serious. Get out of the fucking road.
I routinely stop and let pedestrians (Why call them peds? They might not even like children.), but I agree with shen… if I stop and let you go, please at least make an attempt to move quickly through the crossing.
Nothing’s worse than when you let someone walk, and they take as long as if they had one foot. At least give a small wave of acknowledgement and walk briskly.
I’ll tell you what gives nearly all pedestrians complete forgiveness in my book: just a bit of a wave of acknowledgment when they cross the street. I do a lot of walking, and a lot of hard Masshole driving down here, so I always try to do the bare minimum when I’m inconveniencing people and give a little hand wave.
Lu! Perfect timing. We’re on the same wavelength…465nm.
I do the wave. Then I dash across the street.
@95 my rant was more directed towards downtown proper. you’re right, if the speed limit is 45 then it’s retarded to think someone might even have the ability to stop their vehicle before hitting you if you jump out of the crosswalk. I am referring more to the people like Wingnut who bitch about stopping at a crosswalk on Market/Water St when the speed limit is 25 to begin with. If the speed limit is 25, you need to be prepared to stop for pedestrians, end of story. That’s why neighborhoods are all 25, you have to be ready to stop at any moment because people live there. Downtown is my neighborhood (and yours, from what i e-gather), so slow the fuck down and yield to me in the crosswalk. Bitches.
@97 So true. It’s funny — I love the “courtesy shuffle,” which involves quickening one’s pace for about 2-3 of the 10 or so steps it takes to cross the street. It doesn’t really get them across any faster, but tends to pay respect to the fact that you’re stopping for them.
92 A long way towards peace and harmony. Some people do feel dissed when another perosn approaches them and then suddenly looks right through them as though they aren’t there. Maybe you don’t care but I do know that some do. You may also find that you can become acquainted with people who are interesting but who may be complete strangers.
I wrote a poem. It’ll probably annoy you but here it is anyway:
Why do you cultivate hostility?
Why won’t you even look at me?
Some people on the street smile and say hello
You look away like you think I’m going to throw a blow.
I almost always wave when someone stops to let me cross the road, and I always make sure to make eye contact with the driver before stepping one foot on the road; but I do expect the cars to stop. The only time I won’t make sure the driver sees me is when I see that guy driving the Bentley Continental GT. I wish he would hit me, so I could sue him for his car.
I wave and hustle. THE hustle. I’ve been flicked off a few times which confuses me, as if they didn’t appreciate my acknowledgment of them stopping…that or they didn’t like my new doo.
Kevin, I am 100% with you on this one, buddy.
I apologize if my friendly hello has interrupted your deep thoughts, Stephen Hawking. Jesus! Relax and say hello…or ‘hi’, that’s one syllable less so you can get back to looking at nothing even faster…or even an eyebrow ‘what’s up’.
@104 THE hustle? Like disco? Awesome. I’d stop and wait for *that* anyday.
Shenanigans,
Big hunks of metal…with a brake. Unless your’s is really cheap and came without that option. Why get all upset over such a small thing? It’s not a big deal to let people get across the street and you’re not going to save a lot of time by forcing them to stop. There’s always another light coming up.
@102– …peace and harmony? I just want to walk home from work.
Maybe I’m just not Suhthen enough for this culture, but I just don’t like interacting with perfect strangers. Call it hostility if you want, but I find it most respectful when people go about their own business without bothering other people– up to and including unsolicitedly breaching that “bubble” of distance one necessarily constructs when in public around strangers.
I also like to acknowledge people when I’m walking around. If I’m on the mall I’ll say hello or at least make eye contact and smile. I really like starring at the people that are blatantly ignoring me. You can just see them being uncomfortable.
@104 THE hustle? Like disco? Awesome.
Dont get too excited. Its a remix.
@202: Sorry Kevin! I was looking down to see if there were any high-heel swallowing cracks in the bricks coming up!
high-heel swallowing
I’m not into that anymore. Well, maybe the occasional kitten heel.
/I’m an idiot
@107: you’ve got it all wrong. I’m not complaining about letting people cross, I’m complaining about the ones who feel some kind of pedestrian entitlement and take a nice stroll across the road. Yes, I stopped for you, so now move your ass and get out of the road. And yeah, cars have brakes. But there’s also something called momentum, so cars don’t come to immediate stops.
RE: gunshots late at night
They don’t just happen in certain areas. I had a friend get shot near Washington Park in the “good” part of town. There were just some guys robbing an apartment, he chased them out not realizing they were armed and nine hours of surgery and a week later, he still doesn’t have any feeling below his waist. I have friends in Prospect who have never been shot. Also a lot of “bad” areas back right up to the “good” areas in C-ville city.
Gentrification sucks as an answer. It just means you have more frustrated lower-income families who can’t afford to live near the jobs where they work (jobs that don’t pay them enough to live in C-ville) and who have to forego health insurance in order to buy groceries.
That’s it, I’m buying a handgun.
More guns is not the answer.
Shenanigans,
I don’t step out in front of a car that doesn’t have enough time and distance to stop. I don’t run like a scared rabbit across the street when I do have the right of way and I sometimes wave and smile in gratitude to people who stop even though they have an obligation to do it. I do that to promote cooperation. But why should I run? Running just makes drivers think they have all the rights and pedestrians have only what drivers give them. I have a right to cross the street. I walk across the street and I do it at my usual pace. When I drive I see some people who seem to need to prove to themselves that they are special by deliberately sauntering, strolling or even meandering across the street. I don’t like it but it doesn’t happen often and getting my panties all bunched up doesn’t do any good so I just suck it up and try to be mellow. I’m getting older and there isn’t enough of life left to make anger a regular part of my day. Anyway, being nice to people is probably more effective at getting them to move across the street than hostility.
Guns don’t kill people, Villains kill people.
@116: It depends on what the question is.
I always wait for the car to stop for me - I may have right of way, but the laws of Physics trumps the laws of Man…
and Kevin - hardly anyone ever makes eye contact with me either. You must be hideous too
@116: A question on the state police board
If you have some guns, and then someone gives you 5 more, what do you have
a) Less guns
b) Same number of guns
c) More guns
d) Both a) and c)
I rest my case.
/Jesus is the answer
sauntering, strolling or even meandering
I think I’ll need a demonstration of each of these because I’m not sure if I do any or all of them.
getting my panties all bunched up
With a name like Kevin Cox, I wouldn’t have guessed you were the panties type.
can I rant about the merge lanes on 250… and people stopping in them? yes, I realize there’s not a lot of space to accelerate, but beside mcintire and ivy it seems a LOT more dangerous for people to just slam on their brakes and sit waiting to merge.
@102 If you’re going to smile or speak to strangers passing out of peace and harmony, fine, but you should do it without expecting anything back. There are people who don’t like forced interactions, and that’s legit. There are also people who have stuff going on that don’t want to have to pretend to be all sunshine-y for you, just because that’s what you need out of them. I try to be polite, but if I’m in a bad mood, thinking that my ignoring your greeting is some “cultivation of hostility” is just egotistical.
@117: It’s respect. I stopped to let you cross, you return the favor by getting your butt out of the road. That’s wonderful that you walk at your “usual pace” but you have to realize that “usual pace” is for when you are on the sidewalk, not when you are in THE MIDDLE OF THE F-ING ROAD.
smiles beget smiles in my case. bigger smiles beget bigger smiles.
@121 Jesus kills people with guns?
2123: Yeah, stopping there is no bueno but sometimes you just can’t merge. People go flying by and you have to wait for them to go by.
@126 Yeah, but what do guns beget?
124 if people don’t look at me that’s fine. I don’t talk to people who make it clear that they don’t want to be bothered. “cultivate hostility” happened to rhyme. I don’t happen to think it’s usually a deliberate hostile gesture but some people are sure it is.
123 The signs say yield not merge. The volume of traffic on 250 can be so great that stopping and waiting is the only thing to do. It’s a poor design. The road needs long merge lanes.
@129, depends on what you are asking for.
@127 - He kills people with kindness. And lasers.
shenanigans,
I ain’t running, scooting or dashing. I’m just walking across the street like I have a right to do. You’ll just have to get pissed off over that fraction of a second of extra time. Hit me and I’ll bleed on you and blood is a tough stain to deal with.
@128 or @2124? HOly crap. Shen can see the future…hope she can’t read minds too…
@132 I prefer mind bullets myself.
@131 Would $500 be too much?
my rant, (aside from my passionate feelings about pedestrians and crosswalks, oh my god shut up) is about hobo park. you know what i’m talking about… it’s in the middle of downtown, and it’s full of passed out winos and vagrants selling crack to each other. sometimes at lunch you’ll see some uninformed people trying to have a nice picnic there. too bad they didn’t bring a 40 of thunderbird and some yellow cocaine, they could party with the natives!
i hate the natives.
@130 can you please explain to me how “cultivate hostility” rhymes? I’ve been sitting here for 5 minutes sounding them out and am not making any progress except with funny accents.
If anyone was still harboring any suspicion that Parlie and I are the same person, it should now be abundantly clear that we are not.
@137: I see a definite AABB rhyme scheme.
Just let a small piece of string dangle from the corner of your mouth, nobody will talk to you. Also works to get seats by yourself on public transportation.
abundantly.
@133: Whoa, I didn’t say I would ever hit people. IMHO, driver and pedestrian can help each other out a little bit. Check out comment 101.
And yeah, you have the right to walk across the street however you want but common sense should tell you that in car vs. body, car wins so shake a leg already. There will be cars that don’t see you or can’t stop.
@ 139 I see a definite ABBA rhyme scheme.
/xanadu!
@143
/you probably mean xanadu *remix*, right? sigh…
damn, youre right! and just when i had a totally sweet dance move planned!
/you’re a sport. im a towel.
My rant du jour involves the people working on the water lines in Belmont. I had no water for a little while, and it gradually became a not-so-awesome shade of burnt sienna, both in my sink and pouring down Belmont Ave.
/maybe they weren’t intending to work on the water lines, but hopefully they are now…
@138: nice try.
shenanigans,
I’m glad you’ve never said you’d hit people. That’s very reassuring!
I’ve been an assertive pedestrian walking around this town for many years and nobody has ever hit me. I drive and I know what stopping distances are and I know what drivers can and do see. When a car is stopping for me in the crosswalk why should I suddenly run like I have no rights at all? You can just sit there and wait the same way I’d wait for you if you were crossing or if you were in your car and too close to the crosswalk for me to step out into the street. I’m not about to get hit so I watch the cars. I do sometimes force some of them to stop when it’s clear that they can and should yield to me. Then I smile and say thanks. Many drivers are rude and reckless and act as though they have all the rights and pedestrians have none. The cars have drivers and are not mindless, unpiloted hunks of metal and the pedestrians have rights.
I am still wondering why the title is spelled “Dispair”, not “Despair”.
@148: Laugh. You force people to stop and yield to you? Yeah, that’s bright.
And once again, for the nth time, running doesn’t scream “I have no rights”, it shows you appreciate that the person let you cross and you decided to return the favor by getting across as qucikly as you can and not keeping them sitting there waiting for you longer than necessary. Once again, check out comment 101.
@ 149 He was talking about the shoes he had selected…
My rant: A bit late and irrelevant thanks to Virginia Republicans, but I can’t stand the fact that Creigh Deeds (my State Senator) voted to raise the gas tax. Who really needs to be spending an additional 6 cents a gallon???
/I’m already too po’.
@150: I make them stop for me too. I do it very cautiously, but I will look the driver in the eyes and slowly step into the road. It works every time.
I don’t have some sort of entitlement that makes me think cars MUST stop for me. They are driving. On the road. Roads are for cars.I will wait for them to go by and then I will cross. If they stop for me, great! And I will give a little wave and get my butt across.
153 I echo echo’s method. It does work when they have enough time and distance and that’s the only time I do it. A few times over the years some jerks have refused to stop and instead accelerated and then drove around me and into the oncoming traffic lane.
@154: I understand the physics argument (car > person), and the lack of enforcement will make this argument seem like a stretch; but the law essentially says a person waiting at a crosswalk to cross the street is a stop sign. All vehicles must stop and allow the person to cross. I wouldn’t run a stop sign, so I stop for pedestrians, and I expect the same in return.
@155: Well, that is just jerky to do something like that. (the refusing to stop and swerving) I once saw that old guy Sidney crossing the street in the crosswalk in front of the Clock Shop and some dudes in a truck honked at him and gave him the finger . Rude.
I was just crossing the road not 10 minutes ago…a gal stopped for me at the crosswalk. While walking in front of her, some jaggoff whizzed by in the bikelane and almost hit me. I kicked his truck, gave him a proper flipoff, and yelled. I turn to the girl that had stopped for me, and she looks at me like I’m pissed at her, raises her hands and yells “WHAT?!”
Stay classy, Charlottesville.
@158: And that is why I get out of the road as quickly as I can. To save my ass from getting hit. What road was it and what did the car look like??
echo,
A slight clarification. The law says that you’ve actually got to be in the crosswalk to have the right of way. A pedestrian standing on the sidewalk waiting to cross doesn’t have the right of way. You’ve got to step off the curb and into the street first. Sometimes, rarely, but people do stand at a crosswalk with no intention of crossing. If I see a pedestrian waiting to cross, I stop. It would be much easier if people would just try to cooperate when they’re pedestrians and when they’re drivers.
Roads are for people in cars and on bikes and on foot. They all have rights.
@156 et al., There was a big sting on this up in Boston a few years ago based on the very law that echo lays out for us. A cop would stand on the edge of the crosswalk and flag every car that went by that didn’t stop. This car was then pulled over by cop #2 only 25 feet down the road and given the proper ticket. Brill.
Granted this was in a high-pedestrian area, but something of this nature would be a pretty good idea for our boys in blue on Market Street or somewhere like that.
/Sometimes you’re the windshield, sometimes your the bug.
Im crossing the road as I type this. I have no idea if I will be hit5pvojpdj ojpojpegt
+++lost carrier+++
@161: They should do it right in front of the police station. That would be perfect.
Tuffy,
I smacked a car once on Water St. and the driver jumped out to start and fight but ended up getting a ticket from one of Charlottesville’s finest who then chewed me out for hitting the car. It made the paper and Tim Longo thanked me. I’m still not sure why.
The most dangerous crosswalk in the downtown area is on Ridge McIntire Rd., between Staples and the Omni Hotel.
Even though it’s clearly marked as a crosswalk, and has warning signs on both sides of the road, drivers accelerating down from the Lewis & Clark intersection will blow right through pedestrians in the street.
One theory is that the drivers are blinded by rage because of the sexist depiction of Sacagawea.
/One more reason why that shameful statue should be beaten into plowshares.
@158 It was on Emmet and Stadium right by the university. At one of these new crosswalks with the flashing lights recessed into the road. The a-hole driving the truck was in a beige shitbox. The girl, I think works at X Lounge on Saturdays and seemed to be typing on a laptop in her car.
@166: Does she have red hair? I heard she hates pedestrians.
You know what I hate? Chickens when they are crossing the road. I mean, why do they do that?
She was driving a huge hunk of metal with a lot of momentum and bad brakes.
@160: I’m pretty sure roads are for cars and bikes. Not for walking in. Call me crazy.
@170: And sidewalks are for pedestrians. Nor for driving on.
So don’t ever try to drive into a parking lot.
I don’t hate pedestrians. I am annoyed by people who are like, hey I wanna cross the road. I don’t wanna wait. Cars should stop for me. I am the most important. I’m gonna make them stop .Oh, and then I’m gonna take my time crossing. Me me me!
in 171, nor = not
@172: But I am the most important. Duh
how is this conversation still happening…?? it’s almost at 200.
O
M
G
I am annoyed by people
You don’t say.
This thread may beat the Free For All, which is sad and awesome at the same time.. sawesome.
P.S. Why don’t we create a citizen patrol. I’ll bring the radar gun:
http://www.hotwheels.com/coolstuff/radargun.aspx
Shen, you’re the most important to me. I’ll let you drive by me anytime.
shenanigans,
The crosswalk is in the road. That part of the road is what I’m talking about when I said the road is also for pedestrians. Whatever, pedestrians have a right to be there and drivers and pedestrians both have obligations to yield. We can all cooperate and get where we are going. By the way, pedestrians also have the right of way in some places even if there is no crosswalk.
@177: It’ll beat the most recent FFA because it has been lost to archival oblivion. Luckily colfer was able to find an old one.
I don’t know. I’m leaving. Hey everyone, make sure you stop for Kevin Cox and echo. They will force you to anyways because they have rights! And their rights are more important than yours. Jeezus, how hard is it to wait for the car to go by then cross?
kevin- you should watch the movie “13 conversations about one thing.”
yes. that is all i can contribute.