Time for a Crossing Guard at Robinson Market District

I’ve already written about the apparently impossible concept of with one another without killing one another. The response was mixed. Many cyclists thanked me. Others despise the road pedalers and said “I see too many cyclists riding through stop signs”. It was a polarizing topic which made this people-pleasing columnist tense.

With that said, here I go again.

I think it is time for the to station a crossing guard at the

Last Sunday my mother and I were shopping at the store in Robinson Township. 

Normally when we arrive I drop my mother off directly in front of the store’s entrance so that she doesn’t have far to walk with her cane.

I always put on my flashers so the folks behind me know to go around my car. Inevitably someone honks and then aggressively drives around me. Occasionally they say something, usually something not very nice. But generally they just glare.

I parked the car and as I was walking through the crosswalk with stop signs on both sides, a woman drove right through the stop sign, almost running me over. I screamed like a maniac and she finally looked up at me. That’s right. She looked up because she was driving with her face down. Why? Texting! Why else?

She didn’t apologize and she didn’t stop. But she did speed away.

I entered the store as white as a ghost and my mother immediately knew there had been an incident. It took the entire duration of our shopping experience for me to finally calm down.

As we were exiting the store I asked my mother if she wanted to wait in the lobby area while I went to get the car. She said she needed the exercise and would prefer to cross the dreaded crosswalk with me.

I swear on a stack of bibles that as we were crossing, a different young woman was texting while driving and blew right through the very same stop sign. 

At this point I really lost my temper. I was hollering and waving my hands in the air trying to get her attention. As I was performing my grand gesture of anger, the man behind her also drove through the stop sign!  This dangerous nut aggressively drove toward my mother and myself to the point that he touched my leg with his car. (I was not hurt, but still!). 

I’m not sure if it was his way of saying, “We’re in cars, we win,” or what but it was truly scary.

My mother started hyperventilating, I immediately went into a rage and took off on foot for the guy. (I realize as a petite woman that was the dumbest thing that I could do in that scenario.) I didn’t get too far because I felt that I needed to tend to my mother rather than try to get his license number while following him on foot.

I called Giant Eagle and filed a complaint. I told them that the stop signs and crosswalks are useless without a crossing guard to enforce them. They told me that they would look into the situation, but it is almost a full week later and nothing has happened.

Anyone who knows me knows how much my mother and I enjoy going to this particular grocery store, but I am telling you, if there is not a crossing guard or some type of security in place by the end of the month, Mom and I are taking our money to Walmart! 

Okay… That’s a little extreme even for me, but I swear! I will start grocery shopping at Super K! I will not risk my life for wider aisles and a greater variety of food!