This is how I found out so many of the random people that I follow on here think that vehicle vs. pedestrian jokes are funny, it’s not funny https://twitter.com/carazelaya/status/1317889997995954177

It’s the worst feeling just scrolling and seeing someone random joke tweeting like “Omg how embarrassing would it be to get run over” and it’s a viral tweet

These jokes only show up in my feed because my mutuals liked it/thought it was funny, meanwhile my PTSD kicks in and I think about how my Mom was left to die on the sidewalk after getting hit by a car while walking home but cool let’s joke about it

I immediately unfollow anybody I see liking that type of joke and I’ve been talking about this subject for years now, idc if you’re a part of #NativeTwitter, idc if it’s the whole “I wish a college bus would just hit me so I get free tuition”

Idc, it’s not funny to me

Thinking back on a civic engagement class I took at UAA a few years ago, the professor’s first subject was on “improving the quality of life in Anchorage”

I brought up that it is not easily walkable (especially during winter) considering that it’s a very sprawled out city...

... and almost immediately, she shut me down with a personal anecdote about how she had to walk around campus and to the corner grocery store for the first year she moved to Alaska (decades ago) It’s not THAT bad!” she said

So I decided to tell her about MY personal anecdote

Then, I told her about how my boyfriend grew up having to take the bus, walk, or bike from Government Hill to downtown, southside, midtown, etc

In high school, he was biking downtown and got hit by a driver who was on her phone, he was lucky to walk away with just a broken wrist

The sidewalks in Anchorage are a disgrace in the winter because the city doesn’t plow them very often, which in turn forces people onto the roads daily

People who are disabled, children, and elders, I’ve seen it all happen personally, and it’s unacceptable

The professor didn’t bother to take another’s experience into consideration, it was literally almost incomprehensible to her because her own experience was for less than a year, a long time ago, and I can bet $100 that she has never thought of it again, which is another issue:

The majority of residents in Anchorage have a vehicle because everything is so far apart here, drivers do not consider Anchorage a “walking” city because they’ve most likely never had to do so, and THAT is the biggest problem

I will never stop talking about this subject for obvious reasons, but this type of tragedy has happened too many times in Anchorage

I will never forget Jeff Dusenbury, a biker who lost his life to a teenager who was driving tipsy, it happened the year before I lost my Mom

I am once again telling you that if you’ve made it this far in the thread, thank you

I love this city, but I hate the people who think they can speed around without consequence, I hate having to drive the Seward Highway every year without knowing if I’ll make it back safely