I promise, this blog entry is neither here, nor there. Having traveled to countless cities around the United States and a good many abroad, I’ve found Washington, DC leads the pack in one area and I wonder if any others have noticed this. Are our ambulances the most obtrusive and loudest? I’ve conducted an extremely informal survey on this and concluded this must be a result of several combined factors. For one, ambulances drive slower in DC than they do anywhere else. Whether this is due to traffic or an actual regulation which mandates their tepid pace, I’m not sure, but it can take an ambulance a good three minutes to clear one city block. Secondly, I’m very frequently on the phone when I’m walking in DC which would make me keenly aware of not being able to hear myself think or communicate with the person on the other end of the phone. And finally, we just have more emergencies in DC, don’t we. We’ve grown so immune to these blaring sirens that we hardly jump out of the way anymore – and isn’t that one more reason that they can’t clear the city block fast enough? Tips for DC drivers and walkers – get out of the way! What more do they have to do to convince you?
