You of all people shouldn't be jaywalking

The family and I were on our way to church yesterday when my wife and I noticed something lolly. If you've driven around in Portland, you learn to get used to the amount of walkers and bikers on the road. If not, you run the risk of hitting someone, especially if you're in downtown.


The church we go to isn't in a pedestrian-heavy area, although there is a transit center nearby. Beyond that, there is a small community of sorts in the area as well, so it's not like the area is devoid of anything other than cars. When we saw someone jaywalking across the street, it wasn't a huge surprise. What was a huge surprise, however, wsa the fact that the person jaywalking had a freaking neck brace on.

My first reaction was that someone suffering from neck pain should be taking greater care of their safety. I mean, you would hate to reaggravate most any injury and I would think a neck injury would be that much bigger of a deal. For example, when I had my hernia surgery I somewhat rushed myself back to work. I knew that I wasn't going to be doing anything super strenuous and that I was taking a relatively small risk of injury. You know what I didn't do? I didn't start a jogging routine in my neighborhood. Calculated risks. If I have an injury to my neck that calls for a brace, you bet your ass I'm staying at home. I'm certainly not going to be jaywalking.

My wife brought up a great perspective also. The fact that this person was in a neck brace meant that his range of motion and speed was greatly reduced. Not only is the neck brace very restrictive by design, the guy probably shouldn't be turning his neck side-to-side very quickly. Then again, he shouldn't be jaywalking across a relatively busy intersection, either.