So said a recent complaint on a local community board. Someone was peeved. Apparently the poster was of Indian origin and having now invested in a property in an upscale neighborhood of the Bay Area was expressing his disenchantment with the setup.
He was driving at dusk. Some dude came walking down the road in a bike lane. Walker was wearing dark clothing making himself almost invisible. End result could have been a crash as the poster was turning his vehicle into a side lane and crossing the bike lane.
Why do folks not use sidewalks so well kept for walking? The poster was mad. Then I got to thinking about his predicament. Turns out my neighborhood does have folks doing all manners of things that are not meant to be. Riding bicycles on sidewalks. Walking against traffic in the middle of the road and randomly crossing said road when no crosswalk is present.
Vehicles exceeding posted speed limits. Vehicles parked at no parking signs. And on and on.
The offending parties are largely a reflection of local demographic which is heavily skewed to folks from SE Asia. The origin countries of these diaspora taught them or should I say inculcated in them habits that are now ingrained. Population densities in these countries and the lack of civic sense or the crumbling thereof caused by immense competition for everything from procuring groceries to boarding a bus led to chaotic jostling to get somewhere.
Those traditions as it were are carried over to America and the land of the free. Now globalization so touted by capitalist pundits eons ago has come to roost. In all its manifest glory.
You cannot get the Apples and Googles and myriad other startups (many run by Indian, Chinese and other immigrants from island nation economies) sprout in a small geography of the country aka Silicon Valley and then not expect the families of the starter uppers to arrive to bask in the glow of what their offspring have sprung. These families are not as well endowed with civic sense and the luxury of being in a car as their offspring might. They are natives. From their native countries. Some valley residents too have it in their blood to do what they did back home. Who the heck is going to stop them? Just because they have above average SQL skill does not imply they know or will obey a sign that says pedestrians use the sidewalk.
The upshot to the poster's complaint - at least the "other things" did not include selling of fried foods, flower garlands, newspapers, spit inducing food, washing clothes or utensils, bathing and other ablutions, taking a dump (although dogs belonging to said individuals are) and so on. These other events do occur frequently on many roads in India. Specifically India because I did not encounter them in the smaller island nations which also are poorer but somehow have developed a governance model that works.
As such no US immigration check includes a test on driving, walking or spoken language or what is permitted on American roads. And this clash of cultures has been going on for years. You think NY, NY was a walk in the park? Imagine the Irish clashing with the Italians and Germans having a hard time with the loud Greeks.
You get the yin with the yang. Zero sum game that.
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