Amusing Scene

A few days ago I was biking on Redmond Ridge, riding northbound in the bike lane on Redmond Ridge Drive NE. One hundred yards or so ahead of me, I saw a family of four -- mother, father, ~6 year old boy on a small bike, infant in a stroller -- approach one of the sidewalk ramps leading to one of the many unmarked crosswalks in the area.

The boy on the bike was leading the group, and stopped with his front wheel on the ADA-compliant yellow textured surface that all curb ramps have these days.

I was too far away to hear the conversation, but from their animated gesturing & pointing it was clear that the parents require the boy to stop well ahead of the ramp. I suspect this was not the first time they've had this particular safety lecture.

By the time I reach the intersection, the boy was off the bike. He and his parents were practically huddled around the bike (I doubt if the infant has yet mastered the family huddle). I slowed down a bit, but it didn't appear that they would be finishing their conversation anytime soon, so I proceeded through the intersection.

Quite abruptly, the mother took the bike from the boy in order to walk it across the street. And...

... she stepped right in front of me without even a cursory glance for approaching traffic.

My spidey senses had been a'tingling, so I knew something like this was coming. I had kept an eye in my rear view mirror for overtaking traffic (there was none), so a graceful swerve into and out of the rightmost lane averted a moment of ironical embarrassment for everyone.