Micropanacea

I have seen groups of people in Seattle waiting patiently to cross an intersection at night, in the rain, when few or no cars were anywhere in sight.

I have seen individuals in Boston walk directly in front of moving cars despite the fact that the light was green and the cars had the inarguable right of way.

Frankly, both scenarios disappoint me.

My general rule for pedestrian behavior is thus: Sans a walk sign or a protected crosswalk (with a few exceptions), pedestrians should cross whenever they feel like it so long as they never cause a car to so much as touch their breaks.

More specifically:
1. If you obey the walk sign, you have nothing to worry about. Take your time and enjoy your pedestrian rights.
2. Same as number one, unless there is a car waiting to turn right across your walk box, in which case try to hustle your bustle. It costs more for a car to brake and wait than for you to shimmy it up across the street. In fact, you could probably use the exercise.
3. If you have the option to call the walk sign but there is only one car in sight, don't bother pushing the button and changing the lights; wait for the car to pass and then hail mary across the street without inconveniencing drivers with an unnecessary red light.
4. If you are preparing to use a protected crosswalk, do your best to hit the gaps in traffic (without endangering yourself, of course) and walk with purpose. Meaning, if you can avoid slowing or stopping traffic to cross, do so.
5. Pay attention to crowds and don't be a lemming. People will dart across the street under all sorts of inappropriate circumstances and it only takes a moment of not paying attention to be sucked into their mob mentality. Stand your ground!

I dare any of you to disagree with or improve upon this, my pedestrian proclamation.