Rules, and breaking them

Many people who know me would agree that one of my favorite things to do is complain about people who don't follow rules in the way I deem appropriate, and I had the pleasure of encountering so many of these transgressors over the past few days.  A summary of some recent (and not-so-recent, but still memorable) events:

• Jesse and I were driving into South Minneapolis to visit some friends around 10:30 Saturday night.  There weren't many cars on the road, which appeared to make people think they could just use the street as a substitute sidewalk.  Just ahead of us walked two women, directly down the middle of the street, with no apparent intention of making it to the sidewalk a mere couple feet away.  I panicked, pointing them out to Jesse, who was driving, in case he didn't see them.  He slowed down, aimed the car directly at them, and came to a near stop.  They yelled, "bitch!"
• This afternoon, I decided to go to Target on my lunch break.  I was walking up 2nd Ave downtown, and was waiting at a light with several other pedestrians.  The light was green, but the Don't Walk signal was also on.  All but one of us obeyed the traffic signal and waited our turn.  One man, however, believed himself to be above such arbitrary laws, and began crossing.  When the car that was about to turn right into him inevitably honked, the man -- dressed professionally in a suit, loafers, and well-styled grey hair -- turned around, pounded his palms on the hood, and ran up to the driver's side window, where he proceeded to keep pounding on the car for a few seconds, until he must have realized that he looked like a complete bafoon who was clearly in the wrong, and sulked off.
• A year or so ago, I used to ride my bike to work fairly frequently.  I took Nicollet Mall for much of the downtown ride, because it's an easy place to bike.  No cars are allowed, save for taxis, busses, and emergency vehicles, so it is a relatively stress-free way to get around via bike.  The pedestrians, though, believe that Nicollet Mall is set up in this way so that they may neglect any and all traffic laws and common courtesy practices and wander back and forth across the road without a care in the world.  One day, I had had enough.  A woman sauntered across the street in the middle of the block, directly in my path.  I could have done like I usually did, which was huff as I swerved around the oblivious doofus, but this time, I had had enough.  I saw as she looked up and saw me racing toward her, and then looked away as if me speeding into her wasn't a concern at all.  I stared hard at her and rode directly at her, until coming just before her, where I screeched to a halt.  She looked up, surprised, and stopped, as if to let me pass.  Oh, no.  I wasn't going to go.  I was going to let her entitled, oblivious dumb ass finish crossing the street, since she felt she should be able to do so at any point and under any circumstances.  I continued my Death Glare until she continued crossing.  I hope she doesn't do that anymore.  Unfortunately, there are about 2,000,001 more pedestrians who need that same lesson, and my brake pads aren't terribly strong.
• Another bike story, from Jesse: riding though the shadier parts of North Minneapolis is a challenge, to say the least.  If you're a female, you'd best be flanked by dudes if you don't want to be threatened with disgusting sex acts every other block, and even then, you're not necessarily safe.  You see, people in that part of Minneapolis don't understand that bikes belong on the road, and that pedestrians belong on the sidewalk, and they react in a very confrontational manner when you do these things, or object in any way to them not doing those things.  Jesse, for example, after a driver nearly ran him and his bike over, was confronted by a little girl in the seat next to her mother, who was driving.  "Bitch!" she yelled.    I'm not stranger to this type of behavior, either -- as I left the neighborhood on my way to work one morning, a car intentionally swerved just to cut me off in the process of turning.  My heart raced for the next mile.  

Get a clue, people!