So a report came out last week ranking Bako as THE most dangerous city in the state, possibly the nation, for pedestrians.
And my first thought was "They must be joking... what pedestrians?" I've never seen 'em. Maybe there used to be some, but they were all run down before we moved here. I rather doubt it - in my neighborhood people drive to the curb to pick up the mail. In this town, walking is for pussies.
The "dangerous" part I totally understand. These people drive crazy fast. Going 60mph on surface streets is pretty common. At first I just chalked it up to watching too much NASCAR. But you don't have to live here long before you begin to see the method to the madness. The stoplights here are ridiculously long. I mean L O N G. I've listened to entire stories on NPR at one stop light. (Yes, they get NPR here, but it's broadcast out of Fresno - beamed down to us lost souls behind the Alfalfa Curtain like Voice of America during the Cold War.) And the stoplights aren't timed either, even on the major thoroughfares. So the only way to go more than a half a mile without hitting a stoplight is to FLOOR IT. Why they aren't timed is a mystery. Maybe they've never heard about the concept. Or maybe they did and just dismissed it as another sign of creeping Socialist mind control.
And we'll be having none of THAT here, thank you very much.
