Recently, while standing at the corner of 7th Street and 2nd Ave. at evening rush hour, I witnessed a frustrating scenario. An ambulance, with its lights flashing and siren blaring, is trying to make its way north on 7th. There is considerable gridlock. And none of the drivers of the cars who are by now seeing the ambulance in their rear-view mirrors, feel the necessity to drive forward to get out of the way.
So the ambulance just sits there, for what must be an eternity while the drivers slowly figure out that in order for the emergency vehicle to get by them, that they'll actually have to make room.
Who knows what type of emergency it's speeding off to: a heart-attack? a stabbing? shooting?
Meanwhile, a woman standing next to me on the corner, voices the same frustration, I'm starting to feel (except her voice sounds much more Minnesotan than mine). "What if that ambulance was trying to save someone they love? Would they get out of the way then? Jeezus!"
1 comment:
My mom is a paramedic in Iowa City, and has enough trouble with traffic. I can't imagine doing it in a larger city. It's kind of ridiculous that people don't get out of the way. . .
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