I know what it is! I realized what's going on here.
It's simply this: that Boston is not bound by the rule of law, as other places are. One is not expected to stop at a Stop sign, or continue smoothly when there is no Stop sign; the lane markers do not bind you to their channel, and left turns, across traffic, can be made as spontaneously as right turns. The existence of these signs, and these principles of driving, which we find on the books, are only holdovers, relics, from an era when an objective law was used to organize Boston society. Nowadays, opportunism, forgetfulness, and honking rule the roads.
Now that I understand, I expect navigating the roads will be a much more serene experience.
http://web.archive.org/web/20041011034957/jimfl.tensegrity.net/eb/archives/000207.shtml
Pure gold! Each comment is special.
I like this, on training for Hanoi:
> I tell them to "walk randomly" toward each other. As they are doing this I set of at a steady pace perpendicular to the traffic flow, never stopping or retreating. "This is the only safe way to cross the street in Hanoi or Saigon," I tell them & they always thank me later.
Sounds, actually, like Hanoi uses sensible rules--that is, all the motorbikes and such are assuming that others will continue steadily, or what I would call "New York rules": things seem dangerously close and fast but everyone knows what to expect. Boston does not operate this way.
And nina and Lukwam both weighed in on this thread! And--is it--jimfl's mother?
Yep. That was my mom. Strange thing is that I had been strolling down memory lane and read MY posting minutes before reading YOUR post.