Luis, the fellow from whom I buy fruit, informed me today, as I was buying bananas for my neighbor Armando, that my picture had appeared in the Diario Yucatan yesterday. He rustled around on the floor of his vendor booth and came up with a copy of the paper and gave it to me.
As it happened, last Saturday I was walking along Calle 53 (the caption incorrectly says 63) on my way home from the Merida English Library's 10th anniversary recognition press conference. As I was about mid block I noticed a fellow taking pictures in my direction. I thought perhaps he worked for the City's traffic department and was shooting the damaged corner and traffic light standard. I didn't know if I was in his picture or not, or whether he wanted me in his picture or not.
As it turns out it was a Diario photographer shooting a situation dangerous to pedestrians for publication in the paper.
The caption reads, something akin to: "Rudimentary counterbalance. After an automobile knocked over the traffic light standard in an accident last month, the city police raised the standard and placed rocks as counterbalances, making it difficult for pedestrians to pass. Despite the time that has passed, still no new base has been installed."
So now I'm thinking that police and city officials read it and thought "another damned estadounidense (USA citizen) tourist trying to cause problems."
Actually, and I've mentioned it before, one of things I like about Merida is that when one encounters such pedestrian hazards one is responsible to take care. Having worked for a number of years for municipal governments in the USA I processed, and was deposed relative to, a number of claims filed by folks who fell on sidewalks. Many folks in the USA have come to believe their tax paying neighbors (through those amorphous entities "the city", "the county", "the state") should indemnify them for their own carelessness, and juries often reinforce their belief.
4 comments:
Yeah, but this corner (my corner, by the way!!) is terrible, Chris... I'm a mindful pedestrian, and I believe in natural selection and walking mindfully as much as the next person, but this corner... sucks.
Try passing by when you've got a load of stuff (laundry, bags of stuff) and have traffic whizzing around that corner. No fun. Counterbalance... whatever. Makes it sound so engineered, when there have been 2 serious accidents in the past 3 weeks on that corner. So far, none of them have involved pedestrians.
I'm glad the paper published this shot, and hope the City does something about it soon. Like tear up the damaged concrete and sink that light into the sidewalk the way is was mean to have been in the first place.
Peace!
OK, but why did I happen by at the moment of the picture taking and be drafted into the Diario's noble cause?
I sense that I have now been identifed by municipal authorities as an extranjero troublemaker, conspiring with the Diario.
Oh. Sorry. For a moment there I forgot I am not in the USA.
I learned yesterday that last month my neighbor Armando's picture appeared in a similar Diario picture featuring some other pedestrian hazard.
The Diario folks must be tracking us.
You won't believe this... it's fixed! Like elves, they came in the night and my corner is now pedestrian friendly. Merida never ceases to surprise me. Thanks for lending your mug to the cause!
One less thing to worry about. I'll have to call and thank the mayor. I really had no idea what power I wield.
Post a Comment