Don't Block the Box

Slight detour for a moment:
This morning as I was blissfully brushing my teeth with my spectacular Sonicare toothbrush, my fingers decided to become lazy (I think I was half asleep) and they let go. Much to my dismay it bounced off my leg with bristles merrily dancing, ricocheted off the tub onto my shin then hit the floor.

For those of you wondering what is so wrong with that, I have one word. Toothpaste.


Yes, this is my toothbrush…the Macro Photography group I belong to on Flikr.com ran a contest featuring plastic. This was one of my entries. Yes, I admit I'm crazy not only to have taken the photo, but actually posted it online…twice.

The foamy toothpaste had splattered all the way down my navy slacks. At first I thought I‘d use a damp towel to rub it off, sometimes delusional people think this works, I of course knew it wouldn’t but hoped anyway. As the minutes ticked by, my dark pants began to look like they’d been airbrushed with white paint. Damp towels a no-go, I tossed them into the dirty clothes basket. Out came my black pants, good thing I had a pair waiting in the wings.

Now back to our regularly scheduled program:
Don’t block the box. The first time I came to The City, I was frightened by some of the intersections, more correctly, just the ones with lines crisscrossing them.



When I first encountered an intersection that looked like this, I was afraid to cross it. I wasn’t sure if the lines meant no-entry, or something more sinister. With much trepidation, I learned to drive through or briskly walk across them. (I say briskly because I feel self-conscious when I cross those lines, like I'm on stage and everyone is waiting for me to trip. My sub-conscious thinks that if I dart quick enough, no one will notice me.)

Later I learned the true meaning behind the lines. Don’t Block the Box. These helpful stripes are there to remind vehicle operators not to block the intersection. If you think, “Oh, I’ll just squeeze over there, or run the light,” and you don’t actually make it out of the intersection before the light turns, you might end up with a big fat ticket.

So those of you day-trippers or newbies to The City, when you see the lines, slow down and wait. When traffic is backed-up, squeezing your car over to the other side really isn’t going to get you to your destination any quicker. Besides, if one of NY's Finest is nearby, cash will be flying out of your wallet quicker than you can say ouch. (Well not literally,...more in line with a rather large IOU.)

Oh, and don’t honk either. Sure, you’ll feel better, but the poor pedestrian standing next to your car is now deaf.

-Bitter