Jaywalking
I used to never jaywalk, like EVER. Particularly in cities. I’m just not much of a risk-taker when it comes to darting across streets while hoping no cars come careening towards me out of the blue.
But living in Madrid has changed that.
There are a lot of reasons. Most of the roads here only have 1 or 2 lanes, not the 4+ lanes that are so common in many American cities. A 2-lane road here is narrower than a 2-lane road in the states. There are less cars in general here, so there is less risk of a car appearing out of nowhere. The gaps between cars are much longer unless it’s rush hour. All the locals jaywalk, so it’s pretty safe to just walk alongside them. There are a lot of 1-way streets, which makes watching for oncoming cars much easier. The list goes on.
After living here 4 months, I’ve gotten pretty good at it.
But I think it will be an easy habit to break when I return to the states to face multi-lane roads jam-packed with cars. Not particularly looking forward to that.
