Here's More About Staying Safe While Walking, Talking, Driving and Thriving
Shared some of the ideas I have talked over with leaders in about a dozen areas in the past couple of months and which I've explored in the past year in The Lakeville Journal of CT...and on my good ol' blog Livfully.org which is chugging along.
I'd love help with 'all and any of the above' and trust that miracles are happening 'all the time, even when we sleep...". That said I did help two people stay safe who were hurrying across a crosswalk in Salisbury during a big fall event...and thankfully I saw the oncoming SUV and shouted for then to stop and get back..which they did.
.They were two nice Chinese women (a Mom and daughter) and we got to know each other a bit better when we met again in front of The White Hart Inn 15 minutes later. I told the ambulance folks who had their display there (and who could have been hurt by the SUV had it swerved to miss the women if they could have and needed too...)
That fellow was going about 30 if not more so there should be signage "be prepared to STOP!" with such events and in general going through main street areas...let's all make it a 20 mph tops place, what do you say?
So the other day I also kept an older fellow who had his car window up from backing over an older man who was standing behind his car not noticing they were backing up. Both seemed hard of hearing and I tapped on the window to get the driver's attention and then coached him for backing up once we got the other fellow out of the way who was pretty much clueless about what was going on. So standing, or walking, let's pay attention (and not walk backwards but Watch. Every. Step. (and not run if not a clear reason and path after checking both ways.) I yelled at the SUV driver to slow down and he quickly said, "You need to look both ways..."
Thankfully we don't have a major problem of some folks being done in...but that sense of entitlement and contempt for others, blaming and not looking at more than what he (or anyone else driving for instance) needs to do to get where they want with no or little regard for others in the immediate area and the overall scene is a huge problem.
People in urban areas could tell many stories...and the ambulance crew said there usually was someone in the past trying to direct traffic (and they would need training and permission to do so.) Let's just see what we can do to get more attention about this and many practical issues clarified by state laws and outreach programs (and then on the regional and local levels as well) to up the odds we will get to where we are going and to have more 'kid and family friendly events' set up in sensible places such as out in a field or at a school or near a church etc rather than the middle of the busiest, most dangerous intersections we can think of.
Basically some serious consideration should be given to more fences and protection being put in place and again planning for safety since many people assume 'that's been taken care of'. There can be more signage for pedestrians to 'pass a class' online at least to understand the rules and common mistakes with walking and even interacting with people since meeting people at safe, public places should be the norm if there are tensions or transactions involving selling items and so forth. See more of what I share on Livfully.org and in urban areas in NYC for instance only people who have children can do in a playground unless otherwise stated (certain parks have more access to the public but the playground that is fenced in again may only be for those with children in their care.)
The ideas of meeting parents and promoting child friendly outreaches and networking is very different in one area to the next, so more help for volunteers to pass safety checks as many schools are doing or have ways for them to assist with given programs and review 'where and when' certain topics can be raised or discussed (much like the HIPPA regs) would make sense. When getting to know about difficulties however a person may be asked to be a witness (or be required to be one...legally depending on 'what comes up' and the truth is supposed to be shared or else be charged with lying or perjury.
So there's a lot more to consider than meets the eye...and the law is creeping or needing to be in just about every corner of one's life (mainly to keep more people safe who may be vulnerable) but also accountability standards for living, caring for others and much more is on the rise.
That can be harder for people from 'simpler times and places' to understand and preventing the problems is not anything usually talks about as a helpful strategy in life with team support to check any big moves (from one living situation with people, housemates and so on) to another, factoring in affordability, rising costs and much more..time management on the month, week, and day timeframe...and why not on the hour (more or less...) Routines can be helpful but are not the cure-all and it's not helpful to not have downtime or flexibility, back up and more...
Hope more people are finding a good balance ands hare the secret sauce to having their life go in way that fits them and others in their circles reasonably.
The book Hungry by Tanya...speaks to tuning into our feelings and beliefs to take cues for what we do, eat and how we live...rather than look to external guidelines mainly or only... Okay I'll put this in park for now and hope all team players are doing well across the board!
