We are proud to announce the first installment of our new blogging addition: Philly Phridays! As Philadelphia is an oddly exciting place, we thought we should pay homage, once a week, to its quirkiness. 
Episode 1: Philly Driving (a topic we will likely cover again and again)
Our commute to work is a total of 5.01 miles. Having lived in Utah for so long, we naively thought- 5 miles! Wonderful! We can be to work in 5 minutes! Alas, this dream was not to be realized. To drive our 5 mile trek occasionally takes us 35 minutes. Why? Philly drivers, Philly pedestrians, and blinking Philly parked cars. The rule in this city is that as long as you have your hazards on, you can do ANYTHING you want. Want to park your car in the middle of the road, blocking all three lanes? As long as you have your hazards on, fine. Want to pull up a moving truck and block a one way, one lane road all day, preventing anyone from coming or going? Fine. Just keep those hazards blinking. I actually pulled behind a car at a stop sign that had its hazards on. I knew what that meant, but couldn't believe someone would actually do that. I looked all around, couldn't see anyone in or anywhere close to the vehicle. They really just left it running with its hazards at a stop sign! This forced me to creep around the car, opposing traffic, into the intersection to see if I could go through, wow.
The rule about pedestrian right-of-way is heavily exploited here in Philadelphia. They always take the right of way here, always. No matter what. Just because you have green light, and are cruising along at 35 miles an hour, does not mean you, in your car, with a green light, have the right of way. Oh no! A pedestrian, brushing their hair, can stand in the middle of the road and watch as car after car swerves around them, slams on their brakes, or just sits there and watches them brush their hair. Don't hit grandma with her cane as she stands in the middle of the road, anticipating her chance to cross. Don't be fooled, she is not doing this as a mistake, she is evilly keen and enjoys our struggling not to plow her over. Take your time, Philly peds. You always have the right of way.
The road is always filled with many obstacles. Driving is like playing an old arcade car game like spy hunter where all you do is dodge things. Dodge the cement truck! Watch out for the children riding their bikes the wrong way down the middle of the road on a busy street. Be careful not to be swallowed by that pot hole. Even worse, when the road crew comes to fix said pot hole, they will inevitably take up 2 out of 3 lanes to do the job- during the morning rush hour.
I haven't even begun to talk about the cars that are in motion around you. One thing to remember is if you hear a horn honk, watch out, someone may be blowing through a red light. Apparently its ok as long as you blow your horn. Not only that, but they actually have to put signs up next to the stop light that say "wait for green". That should tell you something. There are certain intersections that I keep my hand on the horn as I pull through because cars always cross lanes to avoid cars that are parked in the way (with their hazards on, so it's fine. Just park anywhere, we'll swerve around you.) Wow, it's like bumper cars, but more like dodgeball, or tag. Whatever it is, I find it quite exhilarating, great first of the morning activity for me. As for Sara, she might have a coronary.
Episode 1: Philly Driving (a topic we will likely cover again and again)
Our commute to work is a total of 5.01 miles. Having lived in Utah for so long, we naively thought- 5 miles! Wonderful! We can be to work in 5 minutes! Alas, this dream was not to be realized. To drive our 5 mile trek occasionally takes us 35 minutes. Why? Philly drivers, Philly pedestrians, and blinking Philly parked cars. The rule in this city is that as long as you have your hazards on, you can do ANYTHING you want. Want to park your car in the middle of the road, blocking all three lanes? As long as you have your hazards on, fine. Want to pull up a moving truck and block a one way, one lane road all day, preventing anyone from coming or going? Fine. Just keep those hazards blinking. I actually pulled behind a car at a stop sign that had its hazards on. I knew what that meant, but couldn't believe someone would actually do that. I looked all around, couldn't see anyone in or anywhere close to the vehicle. They really just left it running with its hazards at a stop sign! This forced me to creep around the car, opposing traffic, into the intersection to see if I could go through, wow.
The rule about pedestrian right-of-way is heavily exploited here in Philadelphia. They always take the right of way here, always. No matter what. Just because you have green light, and are cruising along at 35 miles an hour, does not mean you, in your car, with a green light, have the right of way. Oh no! A pedestrian, brushing their hair, can stand in the middle of the road and watch as car after car swerves around them, slams on their brakes, or just sits there and watches them brush their hair. Don't hit grandma with her cane as she stands in the middle of the road, anticipating her chance to cross. Don't be fooled, she is not doing this as a mistake, she is evilly keen and enjoys our struggling not to plow her over. Take your time, Philly peds. You always have the right of way.
The road is always filled with many obstacles. Driving is like playing an old arcade car game like spy hunter where all you do is dodge things. Dodge the cement truck! Watch out for the children riding their bikes the wrong way down the middle of the road on a busy street. Be careful not to be swallowed by that pot hole. Even worse, when the road crew comes to fix said pot hole, they will inevitably take up 2 out of 3 lanes to do the job- during the morning rush hour.
I haven't even begun to talk about the cars that are in motion around you. One thing to remember is if you hear a horn honk, watch out, someone may be blowing through a red light. Apparently its ok as long as you blow your horn. Not only that, but they actually have to put signs up next to the stop light that say "wait for green". That should tell you something. There are certain intersections that I keep my hand on the horn as I pull through because cars always cross lanes to avoid cars that are parked in the way (with their hazards on, so it's fine. Just park anywhere, we'll swerve around you.) Wow, it's like bumper cars, but more like dodgeball, or tag. Whatever it is, I find it quite exhilarating, great first of the morning activity for me. As for Sara, she might have a coronary.
2 comments:
Oh my gosh that is hilarious! Like they do that kind of stuff...i hate crazy drivers like that. It definatley makes for a good laugh though.
Oh my gosh, please don't get me started.
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