A consistently constant thing I have noticed when walking around the city are traffic lights, I know shocking right – having been here and walking around for so long, yet only just noticing the those traffic lights now, it's astonishing that I'm still alive!
My observation is the "Green Light Lag" that goes with doing the proper thing of waiting for traffic before crossing the road. You come up to a crossing and the man is red, which means “Stop! It's far too dangerous to cross right now, if you don't mind waiting for a few moments, that would be amazing, I only have your best intentions in mind, and I really don't want you to die – that would be too much for me to take on right now – so please wait, I can guarantee your safety if you do”
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| SSSSSTOP! (via joshuadelife.blogspot.com) |
There's always one person that ignores the nice red chap and crosses the road anyway and gets wiped out by a 18-wheeler, but this isn't about him and his stupidity so, too bad for you buddy, you should have paid more attention.
This is when the red man initially changes to green man, like Jekyll and Hyde, this obviously means “GO! GO! GO! Women and children first, get across this road as fast as your legs can carry you, I can't be here forever and if you don't go now, you may die by an impatient motorist, please save yourselves, I can only hold them back for so long! GOOOOOO!!”
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| GOOOOO!!! (via joshuadelife.blogspot.com) |
But for the first few moments when the green man pops up from nowhere. Your brain says “Right you, time to go!”
But you don't do anything.
Instead you stare blankly at this bright green sign and your body that was previously distracted by the thought of spatulas goes “Huh? Wha? OH! This is when I have to... MOVE?”
“Yes, when I said 'time to go” that's generally when you're meant to go”
“As in move”
“Yes, as in move”
“Oh OK, no need to shout about it!”
“I wasn't shouting, I was being... Firm but fair!”
“Sounded like shouting to me – and besides no one else has moved”
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| There, there, Brain (via thetased.wordpress.com) |
And this is completely true, out of your peripheral vision everyone else doesn't move, at the same time you don't move, it feels like everyone is going through the same internal battle. Which often concludes with everyone's body going.
“I forgive you Brain, but I won't move until someone else does”
Moments that feel like minutes pass as everyone's body waits, you brain on the other hand is stuck staring at the green light impatiently.
Eventually the time feels right and your body starts to moves involuntarily, before anyone else has moved, but the weird thing is everyone else's body moves at the same time, as if they all came to a quiet subconscious agreement to just go.
You walk along you merry little way, happy and content for a block until another red man at the end of the clock goes “Whoa there partner” and the whole cycle starts again.
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