Editor:
I am by no means a worrisome person. However, I find that, as my young grandson is starting kindergarten, that I have begun to worry.
This worry stems from the fact that as I deliver this very newspaper, I have become witness to the habits of many of those driving past me as I do my route. The speeding down residential streets, the “blowing” through stop signs, cellphones visible in hands.
Along with this, the seeming impatience of many of those that drive by me.
I see that black pickup truck that flies by doing 60-plus down Buena Vista, barely slowing a few blocks down at the pedestrian crosswalk.
I worry that my five-year-old grandson’s school just a mere two or three blocks up from where I now deliver, and wonder if the same driving problems exist there.
I grow concerned that as much as he loves garbage trucks, that he doesn’t fully understand that they often drive down the opposite side of the road, or that they may be in a hurry, or have certain blind spots, as they go about their jobs.
I worry that as much as we tell him to be careful, and give good instruction on road safety, that he is not “a miniature adult,” but a young child who can be distracted by a friend on the other side of the road, or perhaps a dog or kitten, or a ball rolling by.
We sit him down and explain how traffic lights work, when to walk, and remind him to stay in the crosswalks, and always look both ways.
But alas, I am left to worry yet again as when we go up to the mall, or the beach, he sees other children and adults “jaywalking” rather than walk the extra 20 or 30 feet to a crosswalk.
In closing, I will just say that my grandson Felix is a smart, outgoing, likeable little boy (a biased grandfather’s opinion of course) with a lot to offer the world as he grows up. So let’s all be extra careful out there and give him, and all his little friends the chance to do so.
Barry Cameron, White Rock
