2 • The Southwest Portland Post
The Southwest Portland Post
4207 SE Woodstock Blvd #509
Portland, OR 97206
Fax: (866) 727-5336
email: news@multnomahpost.com
Long-time pedestrian urges
motorists to drive cautiously
I am responding to Patti Waitman’s
letter, “Pedestrians need to share re-
sponsibility for their own safety,” [The
Post, March 2011]. The author advises
[against] wearing dark clothing when
walking at night, face traffic, and look
both ways before crossing--self-evident
perhaps to most except children.
I am not sure whether the author is
referring back to a time when there
were fewer cars on the road, and people
drove more responsibly than many do
today, but things have changed every-
where, and the pace of life and realities
are far different today than at the time
of “our mothers” or “their mothers.”
I have been a pedestrian for sev-
eral decades, by which I mean I do not
drive. The experience of pedestrians is
something that most drivers, who only
walk in and out of the car to get to the
storefront, mall, etc., do not experience,
especially not on a daily basis.
It is probably “scary” to come across
someone walking in the dark barely
visible. I know this area very well and
EDITORIA L
it is a fact there are very few sidewalks
and even the sides of the roads, where
many drivers seem to think pedestrians
should be are unsafe, wet and slippery,
and unstable to walk on.
For this reason few attempt to do so.
Only those who must catch a bus, or
have no transportation have to nego-
tiate these awful, intermittent spaces
on edges of roads, like Capitol High-
way, Multnomah Boulevard, Taylor’s
Ferry Road, etc. Others, attempting to
get some exercise, occasionally make
the effort, perhaps being more agile or
foolhardy.
I have seen countless drivers using
cell phones, which is against the law,
and drivers speeding daily, even on
blind curves. These people are driving
recklessly, and are not facing the con-
sequences of their actions. By the time
there is an accident it is too late.
It is arrogant to think that cars are
entitled and pedestrians/cyclists are
not. We all have to look out for others
on the streets and drive responsibly.
Carrying a bright flashlight is almost a
must in unlit areas.
I call on [City of Portland] officials,
the Mayor, and the [Bureau] of Trans-
portation to serve the community
they were elected by and install lights,
pedestrian crossings, and start work
immediately on sidewalks on all these
major roadways.
It “scares me to death,” when I
see cars veering towards me, or cutting
me off when I am crossing the road
legally at crosswalks on Barbur [Bou-
levard] and elsewhere.
To the comment, “Use the com-
mon sense that mothers preached for
years”, I would say this: try taking a
walk on these roads someday, and
if you care enough to take the time,
A pril 2011
please give officials a call and lobby
for some real changes, because times
have changed and they are continuing
to change.
Irene J.
Southwest Portland
Effects of bullying at any age
can last a lifetime
Every seven seconds, a child some-
where in the U.S. is bullied on the
playground, on the bus and/or online
(National Institute of Child Health and
Human Development).
The effects of bullying at any age can
last a lifetime; it lowers the self-esteem
and security of our youth, and has a
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Its about what we can do,
not what we can’t.
deep impact in how people view them-
selves into adulthood.
As President Barack Obama ad-
dressed to the nation recently, bullying
is not a rite of passage and “no child
should feel that alone.”
Bullying goes beyond pushing and
shoving. Today’s youth are utilizing
technology to expand the reach and
harm of bullying without any direct
consequences.
Bullying is also when a child sud-
denly finds no one will eat lunch with or
play with them at recess. It is relational
aggression, not just physical aggression.
Both are destructive.
There are programs available to help
decrease bullying in our schools, such
as Kids on the Block Awareness Program
(Continued on Page 7)
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4207 SE Woodstock Blvd #509
Portland, OR 97206
Phone: (503) 244-6933; Fax: (866) 727-5336
general email: news@multnomahpost.com
web address: www.swportlandpost.com
Editor & Publisher: Don Snedecor
Reporters/Writers: Polina Olsen and Lee Perlman
Retail Advertising Manager: Harry Blythe
Graphic Design: Leslie Baird Design
Printing: Oregon Lithoprint
© 2011 by The Southwest Portland Post. All rights reserved. The opinions of the artists
and authors contained herein are not necessarily shared by the publisher.
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