19 November—Police presence works. Probably. Yesterday, on my way to the post orifice shortly before noon, I had just stepped off the curb and had one foot in the clearly marked crosswalk at the corner of South Street and the East Green. I noticed there was a State Police cruiser at the opposite corner (of West Street) waiting to turn right onto South Street. I assumed the trooper was giving me the right of way, but that’s irrelevant.

So a newish grey Lexus sedan with New York license plates was speeding toward the crosswalk. (I assume its recent vintage because it had the abominably ugly so-called spindle grille that disfigures all new Lexi, which look like Darth Vader’s helmet.) It didn’t look like the presumably or possibly but not necessarily out-of-state driver was going to obey Connecticut law and, first, stop at a stop sign and, second, stop for a pedestrian in a marked crosswalk.

Out-of-staters—as well as in-staters—might not be fully acquainted with a provision of Connecticut’s recently updated pedestrian crosswalk law that a driver must yield to a pedestrian just standing at the verge of a crosswalk even before said pedestrian actually enters said crosswalk. Ignorance of the law, of course, is no defense—except for police. But I’ll give the possible New Yorker a pass on that.

On the other hand, except for off-duty drunk cops, there’s no excuse for running a stop sign.

In all events, given the legislated inviolability of occupied pedestrian crossings (and my invincibility or mortido drive), when I’m approaching or in a crosswalk, I wait for nothing, no one. Period. So as I was nonchalantly sauntering across the South Street safe zone I stared at the possible New York driver as he (for it did in fact appear to be a he, although you can’t tell these days) appeared to aim for me rather than slow down. But then he glanced to his left and jammed on his brakes.

Thus the grey Lexus skidded to a stop a few feet from me. In the crosswalk. Evidently the driver had noticed the grey Ford State Police cruiser about to turn. To my surprise, as the cruiser turned on to South Street, the New York-registered Lexus actually reversed out of the crosswalk. To that driver’s good fortune the road behind him was clear.

So I stood my ground in front of the Lexus, now several feet from me, for perhaps 15 seconds, focusing my eyes on the driver, hoping to make eye contact. But the schmuck in the Lexus wouldn’t give me the satisfaction. But important mail might be waiting, so I continued across the street anyway. It wasn’t. And that idiot didn’t move until I was all the way on the west sidewalk . . .