N 35th Street and Stone Ave N (Part 2)

Originally uploaded by Kathie92

This is part two of a two-part post (Scroll down for the first part). The event described here takes place on July 4th, 2008 between the hours of 10:38pm and 12:15am.

Before I begin, I have to say that the people in Seattle area actually very cool and fun. 99.99% of the folks I had contact with were friendly and appeared very understanding of the predicament that we were all in; they in gridlock traffic, me standing in the middle of it.

I lost count of the number of people who chatted with me as they passed, saying “Thank you”, wishing me “Happy 4th of July”, and offering other kind comments. I even had a nice lady hand me one of those chemically illuminated, colorful hoops (lack of better description) that she said would help people to see me better while I directed traffic.

I can comfortably say that the public and I got along just great last night. And I must say that I looked great in my reflective yellow safety vest.

Now for Part II

For 3 ½ minutes following the end of the fireworks show, all was calm. Then suddenly, from around the corner, without warning, they came. As best I can tell, all 70,000 people left the park and funneled onto my street. The sidewalks were not enough to contain the crowd and they spilled out into the streets in search of their cars.

This actually worked out well for me. All cars were forced to come to a complete stop, and for the next twenty minutes, pedestrians had the right-of-way in all directions, including diagonally. I just stood by and greeted the nice folks as they passed by, “Good evening.” “Happy 4th of July.” “Hey, nice Sponge Bob outfit.” (For real..)

Now the bad part: I am not sure what happens when certain people get into their cars. Perhaps they gain a sense of empowerment, or maybe a sense of security (a false one as far as I am concerned) once armed with a vehicle. And for others, the windshield of their car is just a magnifying glass showing everyone the person they really are.

And now, a list of the Party Poopers:

The "No Shirt, Yelling From a Passing Car Guys"
These are the bravest of the crowd. They don’t say anything while the traffic is stopped, but choose to wait until they are flagged through intersection and are well on their way before yelling out their obscenities.

The "I Have Some Place to be Guy"
This is the most important person on the planet. This is the guy that pays my salary and doesn’t have to follow any directions whatsoever.

The "Don’t Make Eye Contact, Do What I Want Guy"
Similar to the “I have some place to be guy”, just not confrontational.

The "I’m Too Drunk to Follow Directions Pedestrian"
Fun to watch, slow in the crosswalks.

The "I’m Not Right in the Head, Dancing in the Street Pedestrian"
Fun to watch, intentionally slow in the crosswalks.

The "Drunk, I Want to Fight Everybody Chicks".
It’s easy to identify this crowd – smeared mascara, bloodshot eyes, and large clumps of hair falling off their heads. I think that’s hot!

Luckily, I made a promise to myself at the beginning of the night not to get stressed out over the few jerks that make my job necessary. I knew that this was a once-a-year event, and may actually be a test to determine if I am eligible to get into heaven or not. Although my blood pressure did rise up a few times during the night, the good folks made my day. Oh yeah, one other thing made it all worthwhile – double time. Cha Ching!