Crossing the street
Crossing the street is one of those everyday activities that shows a lot about a culture. In the US, when we come to a "Don't Walk" sign, we stop and look around. If there are no cars in any direction, we will usually just start walking anyway. (No big deal.) In Denmark, I saw large groups of pedestrians wait for the walk signal on empty streets even at 4:00am. In Serbia, I've seen something in between these two.
There's a traffic light on the way home from my office. This is one of those intersections that has a countdown until the light turns green.
At first, when the countdown is at 70 seconds or so, everyone stands and waits. When the countdown gets to 40 seconds, people start getting restless and looking around. Finally, when it gets to 20 seconds, people stop waiting and start to cross.
But even then, there are some people who insist on waiting until the light turns green. One night in particular, as I was part of the rule-breaking group, I saw a young woman standing in place and looking resolutely ahead as if to say, "No matter what everyone else is doing, I am going to wait for the light to turn green." I admired her. She reminded me of the new Fearless Girl statue in New York.
There's a traffic light on the way home from my office. This is one of those intersections that has a countdown until the light turns green.
At first, when the countdown is at 70 seconds or so, everyone stands and waits. When the countdown gets to 40 seconds, people start getting restless and looking around. Finally, when it gets to 20 seconds, people stop waiting and start to cross.
But even then, there are some people who insist on waiting until the light turns green. One night in particular, as I was part of the rule-breaking group, I saw a young woman standing in place and looking resolutely ahead as if to say, "No matter what everyone else is doing, I am going to wait for the light to turn green." I admired her. She reminded me of the new Fearless Girl statue in New York.
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