Bob Ridpath
Pit Bull love
Speaking as one, I'd be absolutely certain you're right.
Still, we're not alone in the world. On my first visit to Weissach in Germany visiting friends, I hiked from their home one early morning down to the town center in search of the railroad station. Located across a reasonably busy street, albeit with traffic signals, the marked crosswalk was some forty or fifty feet distant and the sidewalk filled with a number of people, including children on their way to school apparently, waiting to cross at the designated spot in "legal" fashion.
I seized the moment when there was a quick break in traffic, looked both ways, and ran quickly across the street - amazed at the immediate caterwauling and finger-pointing from the group waiting patiently at the marked crosswalk. Thinking it best to ignore that, I went behind the railway station to explore a bit.
I was surprised when the local constabulary approached me only several minutes after my successful road crossing. Passport was at our friends' home and, of course, I had no idea of the street address. The officers were polite and seemed glad to put their English to practical use, and they finally drove me to our friends' residence, backtracking the clumsy route I had walked earlier to the scene of the crime (and it's funny how different unfamiliar things look from the backseat of a car instead of walking).
Anyway, finally successful in finding the home, my only "discipline" was a stern lecture from the officers and our friends Gudrun and Georg. I was never able to leave the house alone again, even on a couple subsequent visits, without being asked if I had my passport and the paper with their address and phone number in my pocket.
