RSSThings About Pittsburgh
January 12th, 2008 | View Comments
No matter how long I’ve lived here, there are certain things about Pittsburgh that I will never get used to. Things that become especially apparent after I’ve just returned from a long stint away.
For example, the Pittsburgh Left. I understand the idea behind the practice, especially since there are a lot of high-traffic places with no left-turn lanes. In theory, the Pittsburgh Left keeps traffic flowing by letting the left-turning person go, instead of blocking traffic. In practice, it feels like people just turn willy-nilly with no regard for oncoming traffic or pedestrians.
Or the stop signs at the bottom of several on-ramps. Not yield, full stop. Meaning that to merge onto the freeway, you have to do 0 to 60 in about ten yards. I get the feeling this is supposed to be a safety feature, but it mostly just increases your chances of getting rear-ended as you get on the freeway.
Or the paying of bus fare. In every other bus system I’ve ever used, you pay the fare when you first get on. Not so in Pittsburgh! You pay the fare when you first get on if you’re riding an inbound bus. But if you’re riding an outbound bus before 7pm, you pay the fare when you get off (yeah…I don’t get it either). Except if you’re riding the 59U. You always pay for the 59U when you first get on, inbound and outbound. After 7pm, you go back to paying when you get on. No one ever knows what to do if you’re getting on a bus at 7:01pm.
But there are some things about Pittsburgh that I can get used to pretty easily. For example, being able to buy Joshua Bell tickets at the last minute. Yes, that Joshua Bell. In many major and even some minor cities, tickets would have sold out three months ago. But not only did I score a ticket…it was $8.
Woo Pittsburgh!
Yvonne posted this on January 12th, 2008 @ 3:11pm in Pittsburgh | Permalink to "Things About Pittsburgh"
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1. Elenita » January 14th, 2008 at 12:41 pm
$8?!?! Dude.
Have fun, though.