Comments on: 074 – Crossing the road

By: Francoise

Francoise — Wed, 01 Oct 2008 22:50:15 +0000

The crossing man is white in Canada, though I think I’ve seen green ones as well.

Crossing etiquette varies… in Montreal, anything goes, including crossing in front of oncoming traffic. In Ottawa, you’ll get the look of death from most pedestrians if you dare step off the curb before the light changes. Though in Winter, no one will stop you from jaywalking if it’s -40 celcius.

I am proud to say that I did master crossing the road in Cairo, Egypt. It’s sort of a choreographed dance between 8 lanes of oncoming traffic and a handful of pedestrians gracefully crossing one lane at a time with cars whizzing by on both sides. Saw a police officer get across holding a tray of full tea cups!

By: Craig and Linda

Craig and Linda — Wed, 01 Oct 2008 01:00:16 +0000

Peter, Jeff: thanks.

I think the light-phases are similar in these antipodean colonies (that’s NZ and Aussie). It can be frustrating, but since it’s culturally appropriate to cross when it’s safe (enough!) that’s fine.

European friends of mine are always surprised when crossing Queen Street in Auckland. All the crossing lights go at the same time, so people are crossing to the opposite corners…creating a *real* crossroad.

So Friends can be wrong! I’ll never look at the TV in the same way again. It’s nice to know one can cross the road against the lights up there too.

By: Jeff

Jeff — Wed, 01 Oct 2008 00:31:32 +0000

I find that most people America cross the street when its safe (even if it not at a crosswalk) though New York and other large city’s are entirely different animals then places like Ohio where I am. if the road looks to busy I will just wait for the the little man. though there not a lot of pedestrian traffic most places in the USA because most people drive because of all of the malls and strip malls.

By: Peter Daams

Peter Daams — Mon, 29 Sep 2008 09:50:46 +0000

Aah, my pet peeve in Australia (or at least in Melbourne) are the pedestrian crossings.. I hate how you have to hit a button to let it know you want to cross. If you don’t get to it on time, you end up having to wait for a full cycle before the next opportunity. The only thing this achieve as far as I’m concerned is frustrating a lot of people into crossing when the light is red. What a useless system.

When travelling, the big thing is to kill your habits of only looking in the direction you’re used to. I’ve almost been run over more than once because of that.

By: Craig and Linda

Craig and Linda — Mon, 29 Sep 2008 01:51:38 +0000

I’ve never seen a white crossing man: where did you see him? I’ve been trying to find a picture of the iconic East-Berlin walking man, but can’t.

It’s always about the coffee, huh? Thinking of which…

By: Why do Bloggers Ignore Their Readers? | Yankee in a New World

Why do Bloggers Ignore Their Readers? | Yankee in a New World — Sun, 28 Sep 2008 08:32:36 +0000

[...] world and writing and who knows what else, and he still comes around to my blog once in a while. Or Craig and Linda from Indie Travel Podcast, who even in the midst of leaving Europe, took the time to answer my million questions about job [...]

By: Austin

Austin — Sun, 28 Sep 2008 03:51:20 +0000

The chicken crosses the road to get to the coffee shop on the other side. And to make it to the next street to cross.

The little crossing man is white in a lot of places, although I prefer the British-style walking man a lot more. He’s just classy.

By: john stone

john stone — Sun, 28 Sep 2008 02:53:41 +0000

good travel tips!

By: Government spokesperson

Government spokesperson — Sat, 27 Sep 2008 11:53:45 +0000

Why did the Chicken cross the road?

Because he had missed the Health & Safety seminar. If you had read my report: page 48, section D…

By: A nun

A nun — Sat, 27 Sep 2008 11:51:02 +0000

Why did the chicked cross the road?

It was a habit.

By: Tony Blair

Tony Blair — Sat, 27 Sep 2008 11:49:09 +0000

Look. When I see that chicken. I see an outcast from Society. A bird driven to desperate. Acts. By eighteen years of society’s. Disintegration. Under the Conservative. Government. My vision. Is of a Third Way. Where the People’s Chicken. Will be elected to a fixed-term position. And can negotiate whatever thoroughfares. The EU’s Common Agricultural Policy dictates. New Labour. New Chicken.

By: Groucho Marx

Groucho Marx — Sat, 27 Sep 2008 11:48:38 +0000

Chicken? What’s all this talk about chicken? Why, I had an uncle who thought he was a chicken. My aunt almost divorced him, but we needed the eggs.

By: Bill Gates

Bill Gates — Sat, 27 Sep 2008 11:45:32 +0000

To purchase Chicken 2.01a, which will both cross roads and calculate the energy it used. There are bugs, yes, but if you uninstall Traffic 2.0 and Farmer 1.2 it will run. If it freezes at WhiteLine 2.0, we have a patch …

By: John Cleese

John Cleese — Sat, 27 Sep 2008 11:43:34 +0000

This Chicken is no more. It has ceased to function. Bereft of life, it rests in peace. It’s a stiff. If it wasn’t nailed to the road it’d be pushing up daisies. It’s snuffed it. It’s metabolic processes are now history. It’s bleeding demised. It’s rung down the curtain, shuffled off the mortal coil and joined the bleeding Choir Invisible. This is an Ex-Chicken. Ergo, it did not cross the road.

By: Charles Darwin

Charles Darwin — Sat, 27 Sep 2008 11:41:51 +0000

Chickens, over great periods of time, have been naturally selected in such a way that they are now genetically dispositioned to cross roads.

By: Mr T.

Mr T. — Sat, 27 Sep 2008 11:40:55 +0000

If you saw me coming you’d cross the road too!

By: Hemingway

Hemingway — Sat, 27 Sep 2008 11:38:36 +0000

To die. In the rain.

By: Baldrick

Baldrick — Sat, 27 Sep 2008 11:37:56 +0000

Why did the chicken cross the road, my lord?

It had a cunning plan.

By: GW Bush

GW Bush — Sat, 27 Sep 2008 11:36:58 +0000

Why did the chicken cross the road?

I don’t believe we need to get the chickens across the road. I say give the road to the chickens and let them decide. The government needs to let go of strangling the chickens so they can get across the road.

By: Budda

Budda — Sat, 27 Sep 2008 11:31:26 +0000

If you ask this question, you deny your own chicken nature.

By: Martin Luther King Jr.

Martin Luther King Jr. — Sat, 27 Sep 2008 11:30:37 +0000

I envision a world where all chickens will be free to cross roads without having their motives called into question.

By: Machiavelli

Machiavelli — Sat, 27 Sep 2008 11:29:50 +0000

Why did the chicken cross the road?

So that its subjects will view it with admiration, as a chicken which has the daring and courage to boldly cross the road, but also with fear, for whom among them has the strength to contend with such a paragon of avian virtue? In such a manner is the princely chicken’s dominion maintained.