Letter: Listing some local pet peeves (March 1)
You are stopped at a stop light and a pedestrian is on the corner repeatedly pressing the “walk” button, mistakenly thinking that it will immediately change the light from “don’t walk” to “walk,” when in fact all it does is turn the light to “walk” when the traffic light turns to green and add a few seconds to the length of time it will say “walk” for the average person to walk across the street.
It is a toggle switch (on/off). Any more than once pushed is a waste of effort. The only way it will change it right away is if there is no traffic to control, in which case the pedestrian would probably jaywalk anyway.
How about people driving in the rain without their headlights on? California Vehicle Code 24400A requires you have your headlights on when your wipers are on. Sure, you can see, but that’s not the idea.
The idea is for you to be seen.
Another example: The person driving while talking on a hand held cell phone. Mostly young women. They know that it is against the law, but do it anyway. You can tell it’s just talk and nothing that can’t wait by the smiles on their faces. Pretty sad to think that their whole lives revolve around a cell phone. Advertising and social pressures make them think that way.
This law is poorly enforced and they know it. There are enough distractions built into today’s vehicles already, GPSs, CD players, rear view cameras, radars, etc.
The cost of a Bluetooth headset is a lot cheaper than a ticket and far cheaper than an accident.
You see people walking down the street staring at their cell phones instead of paying attention to where they are going or what they are walking in front of. Some of these people don’t have a pot or a window, but they do have the almighty cell phone. Their use in restaurants is just plain rude and as bad as an unruly child.
Madera Unified School District wants to lay off some 144 employees because of budget problems that stem from mismanagement and misuse of funds, and they will start those layoffs at the bottom.
When they send four guys and four trucks with one shovel to put up a street sign, that’s mismanagement. How about when they send out a road crew and they park for an hour without doing a thing until the potty trucks show up sometime later? More mismanagement.
What does it cost to put up all these “Welcome to Madera” signs on every light pole in the city limits? I counted at least 40 just on Gateway and gave up on Cleveland, Country Club Drive and Yosemite. Now that’s misuse of funds.
Start cutting the mismanagers and the misusers and take away the county vehicles of those whose jobs do not require them on a daily basis. Five or six of those reductions would save some of the lower jobs at stake, allowing them to have more fruitful and productive lives, not to mention their self-esteem and respect.
Larry Turner,
Madera
