Bravery

It's Saint Patrick's day, and downtown Syracuse has been awash with alcohol and drunks since the parade ended around 1 o'clock. I walked home for dinner at 6:00, and if I were to guess, I'd say that 3 out of 4 pedestrians and 1 out of 4 drivers was seriously toasted. To make matters worse, it's been snowing lightly for the last day or so, and the driving conditions are less than ideal.

I started to cross Clinton Street when I got the white walking-man light, and about a third of the way across I noticed that the car approaching me from the left (in the center lane of a one-way street) wasn't showing signs of slowing down. My mind was elsewhere, so after missing a half-stride to confirm that I had the right-of-way, I kept on walking, and the car slammed on its breaks, sliding through the slush to a halt a few feet past the stop line, and a few feet closer to me that I would have liked. I finished crossing and realized that I'd had an audience on the other side. One guy said to me, "You've got balls! You've got balls of steel!" and then he turned and announced to all present, "This guy's got balls of steel!"