Crossing Guard
So hear what happen to me yesterday morning nah. I was walking down the street and I saw this schoolboy trying to cross the road. He probably wasn’t over six years old. So this boy is trying to cross the road and from looking at him, it’s hard to tell if anyone has ever taught him how. Mr. Man was was making repeated attempts to dart across the road without ever looking left. The entire time traffic is coming in a steady stream from the left and he is totally oblivious to it. So I shout out, “Aye boy, hol’ on, hol’ on!”
So he stops and I go stand up next to him. I tell him. “Hold on, eh, I will tell you when it safe to cross”.
Now Mr. Man is tiny and with me standing next to him and looking at the traffic, I can’t see him standing all the way down there. The only thing I didn’t do, which I should have done, was to hold him still. So he’s standing to my left and my head is turned to the right looking at the stream of traffic coming. All of a sudden I hear people yelling and tire squealing. I whip my head around to see a two-tonne truck and a maxi taxi screeching to a halt with a little school boy in the center of the road. So I was like, “Wait nah? That is not the same little boy I was helping?” I look down to my left and no schoolboy. I look up again to see the little school boy jump onto the sidewalk unharmed. Meanwhile there is still yelling going on and I realize it’s coming from the six or so men sitting in the tray of the two-tonne truck. The only audible words I hear comes from an angry-looking dougla man who stands up in the tray, points accusingly at me and shouts, “AND HE FADA STAND UP RIGHT DEY!”.
I’m thinking, “He fada? Me?”
I didn’t say anything to him partly because of the shock, partly because he looked like he wanted to beat me and partly because I looked and felt guilty. Any excuse coming from me would have sounded like a lie.
So the tuck starts moving again and angry dougla man sits back down and continues to glare at me. I turn and continue along my way and it dawns on me that they very thing I was trying to avoid almost happened and I got blamed for it.
14 Responses to “Crossing Guard”
By GirlBlue on Nov 21, 2007 | Reply
Next time hold de chupid chile han or throw him in the road yourself :p
By Anonymous on Nov 21, 2007 | Reply
Dude! No good deed goes unpunished!
Seriously, you were trying to be a good Samaritan. Thank God it didn’t go worse than it did.
By Mani on Nov 21, 2007 | Reply
lol, girlblue, allyuh go kill me yes.
Anonymous, no good deed goes unpunished. You couldn’t have put it better. Not to big up myself, but afterwards I couldn’t help but wonder how it would have turned out if I hadn’t stopped him from crossing the road at the time that I did.
By Jill on Nov 22, 2007 | Reply
aww mani, you were trying to do something goood, so it isnt your fault really..
altho, kids arent supposed to really stand around by strangerss soo..! but it was a good deed nonetheless.
you’ll never know how things would have gone, but you were in the right place at the right time it seems
By Theresa on Nov 22, 2007 | Reply
I remember learning how to cross the street from Sesame Street ”look both ways, hold a grownup’s hand etc”… plus my parents drilled it into me at every crossing. It doh have that show again? Parents doh teach that?
By Jumbie on Nov 22, 2007 | Reply
Hmm, maybe the lil one training to be a duncey when he grow up. Good start…
By Anonymous on Nov 23, 2007 | Reply
Sounds like it was the first time you ever tried to help someone in your whole life. Planning to do it again?
You noticed very well the fact that the man in the back tray was a ‘dougla’. Nice.
Watching you close.
By Mani on Nov 23, 2007 | Reply
Jill, I wondered for a sec if it was the strangers thing, but somehow I think if his parents didn’t teach him the “cross the road” rule, they didn’t teach him the “strangers” rule.
Theresa, apparently not. It really scared me to see what this child was doing.
Jumbie, oh gosh boy, yuh wicked.
Anonymous, yes it was the first time I ever did something good in my entire life and yes I did notice the man was a dougla because I am against the mixing of the races. You know what? You sound really smart, I support the Government’s decision to give you free education. Go ahead and watch me close. Allyuh doesn’t have nothing better to do? You waste time to write that? Ass.
By Shivonne on Nov 23, 2007 | Reply
Mani I real sorry, I know it sad but this thing had me rolling…”look he fadda stand up rite dey” bwahahaha
Btw i would be really creeped out if I had the likes of Anonymous above posting on my blog *shudder*
Watch yuh back yuh dougla hating anonymous blooger
By MDF on Nov 23, 2007 | Reply
Mani, this is the best post ever. I love it! Unfortunately it proves exactly what you said, our children are not being taught to cross the road properly. I was taught look left, look right and look left again.
Though to be fair, today’s children have to repeat that action several times since nowadays drivers 1) don’t even stop at pedestrian crossings, especially when the law states you have to STOP not slow down, cruise to a stop, but stop at a crossing and 2) pedestrians love to dart out into traffic.
Pedestrians drive me nuts (pun may or may not have been intended, take it anyway you want). You know a driver give yuh a lil chance to cross, walk farse nah. No, dey eh go do dat, they go stroll across like is bloody Sunday afternoon.
As for the Sesame Street reference, I read an article by Virginia Heffernan of NY Times recently that says and I quote: “According to an earnest warning on Volumes 1 and 2, “Sesame Street: Old School” is adults-only: “These early ‘Sesame Street’ episodes are intended for grown-ups, and may not suit the needs of today’s preschool child.”
So yeah, children of today don’t want to see something as tame and non-graphical as Sesame Street. The good ole days, whey dey gone, eh?
By Mani on Nov 23, 2007 | Reply
Shivonne, don’t get me wrong, I am able to laugh at it now. I can still see the man pointing at me and I still hear his voice. When you think about it, it is funny. Doh worry with that anonymous, he trying to cause trouble for the longest while.
Thanks MDF. I know what you mena about pedestrians taking their time. Once I saw a taxi stop for some little ones to cross the road and if you see how slow these children walking. The driver got so fed up he bawled out, “Aye, allyuh walk like allyuh have life nah!”. Well that lit a fire under them. I agree with your quote. Sesame Street of yesteryear is waaaaay to sedate for children nowadays. The good old days gone, oui.
By D Trini in Me on Nov 27, 2007 | Reply
It not funny, but LOL! Mani always looking to help out
By AC on Dec 3, 2007 | Reply
HAHAHAHAHAHA!!
My chldren know how tuh cross de street doh Mani…I taught them.
By Lafoncette on Feb 11, 2008 | Reply
I’m 31 and I remember learning in primary school, “look right, then left, then right again.” We also learnt to walk on the right-hand side of the road to face oncoming traffic. I belive both bits of pedestrian safety were reinforced by public service ads from the police. In fact, I’ve commented on it as yet another way that general education in Trinidad and the Caribbean better educates people (or at least used to). Please tell me this child was the exception and it’s still that way.