I'm such a boy scout

[xela]

I tried to help a little old lady across the street today. I was walking up to an intersection, in Boston proper around rush hour, and saw a tiny, crouched older woman standing there, heading the same direction as I was. A good ten seconds after the light had turned to walk, she was still standing there, her head swiveling — confused, I assumed, as to whether it was really safe to cross. (For those of you who've never had the dubious pleasure of walking (or for that matter driving) in Boston, it helps to know that Boston drivers have never heard of the idea of right-of-way. Especially when it comes to yielding it. The roads here are a giant game of chicken. So you hardly need to be an elderly lady to have trouble deciding when it's safe to cross the street here. But you're more likely to get my active assistance if you are.)

So by the time I came up beside her, she'd been standing there, head swiveling, for a good ten seconds. I stopped at the curb, and had barely got the first syllable of "Excuse me, ma'am" out when she suddenly darted across the street, moving much faster than my normal walking speed. I stood there sort of bemused for a second, then got going myself, just as the "don't walk" light started blinking.

Comments

[siderea]

I am minded of the Silver Horde in Terry Pratchett's Interesting Times, a group of superoctogenarian warriors. They don't look terribly dangerous until you realize that one doesn't get to be very old doing what they do "unless one is very good at not dying".