Picture this: There is a T intersection of two semi-major streets. The two corners have curb cuts, there are parallel curb cuts for the sidewalk along the top edge of the T, and there are crosswalk lines on all three possible crossings.
If you are walking along the street that forms the top bar of the T, with the street to your right, you will find the following to your left: Up until the outer edge of the first curb cut, there is grass. For the area between and including the two curb cuts, there is an open patio of flat concrete. (Beyond the patio area there is a building.) After the second curb cut, there is grass.
With me so far?
For those that want a visual depiction, I scrabbled up a pathetic Paint image:
( image + description )You know the sort of portable sidewalk signs (the ones that form an upside-down V when they're up, but can be easily carried away and stored flat) that some places use?
...the sort that commonly are placed blocking the sidewalk?
There was one set up, for a "many-path" sort of spiritual center that I guess meets in the building. Now, with the WHOLE CONCRETE PATIO AREA to choose from, guess where they set up the sidewalk sign?
(This is, mind you, an "inclusive" spiritual community "open and embracing all peoples". Yes, I googled their website. Yes, I am pissed off enough to use scare quotes.)
Those of you following the visual aid might have a sneaking suspicion that the black line represents their sign. And you would be right! The Sidewalk-Blocking Sign of Doom, as I now call it, was set up BLOCKING THE SIDEWALK before the first of the curb cuts.
Those of you who are following the visual aid and are especially observant might notice the red curb line along the grass bordering the patio area. I could get onto the grass from the sidewalk; I could not get off anywhere past the sign.
...If I had been in the mood to be a Nice Little Wheelchair, I would have meekly backtracked, either a) to the previous curb cut (actually a driveway to a parking lot) and then gone the wrong way down the bike lane to the intersection, or b) around the entire grassy area to the patio, since there are alternative paths, and then down the curb cut.
I was not.
Instead, I ran into the sign (very gently and carefully of course) until it fell over, and then pushed it out of the way of the curb cut that it had of course fallen across.
(Halfway through this process, someone on the other side of the street shouted "Do you need any help?" After ascertaining that they were talking to me, I answered "No, thank you" very sweetly. They helped anyway, looking very disapproving. I? Totally did not care a whit.)
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aquinasprime
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anti_recs.)
