Only in Boston (2 parts)

How to encourage pedestrian safety:

Most cities in the U.S. have annual "pedestrian safety" campaigns. This usually means a ton of police officers stand at various street corners giving tickets to jaywalkers. Ticketing and illegal activity... makes sense right?

Well, not in Boston. In Boston, jaywalking is the norm and thus its accepted. So we have a different sort of pedestrian safety campaign.

Yesterday, people wearing neon shirts and carrying giant red signs ("Stop, Look and Listen" - yes, 5th grade dejavu) gave PRIZES to people who didn't cross on reds. Yes folks, we reward you for NOT breaking the law.

The goody (gift) bags included a frisbee, a water bottle - and a bunch of other stuff - of course, I wouldn't know because I don't stop at intersections (actually, I didn't leave campus while they were out there... neon shirts scare me).

The great part was that most people not from Boston only stopped because they thought these weirdos were ticketing pedestrians. Silly kids... tickets are for the rest of the country :)

Hey, honestly, I'm not complaining. This system works out much better. See, I get to an intersection see no cars and cross. Now, if I waited for "walk" signal, then I'd have to push the button and wait. Inevitably, the walk signal would not turn green until a ton of cars reached the intersection. Then they'd ALL have to sit in their cars and wait while I walked my butt across the street (and keep waiting until the light turned green for them). Now, I can dash across the street - saves me time, saves drivers the time and frustration of red lights. And we're all happy.

Part 2 of Only in Boston....
Months ago I posted a blog on "regional advertising" - so I thought I'd update you on the most recent amusing regional ad.

The Boston Marathon was on Patriots Day (April 16th - yes suckers - we get an extra holiday! hah!). Reebok had (still has) a "Run Easy Boston" ad campaign going.... "Why hit the wall? Run easy!" (and a bunch of other ads suggesting that running hard sucks so you might as well jog/walk it).

My favorite one: "The Big Dig set the pace. Run easy Boston."

HAHAHAHH! Isn't that great?

For those who don't know what the big dig is... here's some recommended reading: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Big_Dig or http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A61112-2004Nov18_2.html

Or, better yet... here are the key facts... The Big Dig is the most expensive highway project in America. Although the project was estimated at $2.8 billion in 1985, over $14.6 billion had been spent in federal and state tax dollars as of 2006.

And it took 15+ years (over 20 if you count "planning")

(PS - thats not just Mass taxpayer dollars - thats ALL OF YOUR taxpayer dollars... muahahahaha).

Oh ya, and there's this little problem now --- its called... LOTS OF LEAKS.

"Designers projected that the tunnel's drainage system would handle 500,000 gallons of leaking water per year.Since last December, however, 26 million gallons of leaking water has flowed through the drainage systems."

(by last december it meant December 03-Nov 04)

Hey, we like to take our time with big projects okay. Money is not an issue.... (especially when its yours )

Run easy Boston...