

Crossing The Street - sohailprasad
http://sohailprasad.com/crossing-the-street

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joedev
You forgot one type of person. "People who wait for the walk sign because
they've got other things on their mind and make the conscious choice to leave
deciding when to cross the street up to the street light." Waiting for the
light lets you cross the street with hardly any thought at all, freeing that
thought up to do other things.

These people realize you can only do so many tasks so why not delegate the
least value-added (what are you going to gain by earning 15 seconds) of the
tasks to someone - or something - else? It's a no-stress, win-win to give
yourself one less thing to worry about.

~~~
wr1472
I was about to say the exactly the above.

    
    
        People who evaluate the situation for themselves and cross on their own terms
    

What if you are someone who has evaluated the situation and decided that you
will wait for the sign, or you will just cross as other people are doing so?
How can you tell when someone has evaluated the situation and exhibited on of
the above behaviours?

~~~
alwaysdoit
Now that we've read his post, if we follow his guidelines, we're back to being
a follower.

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groby_b
And then there's people who understand how risk compunds over a large number
of instances.

Yes, I wait for the green light. Because every single time I make a judgment
call that it's safe despite the red light, I have a _tiny_ increase in the
likelihood that there might be an accident. (No, waiting for green alone is
not good either. There's always a risk. Situational awareness is good. But
walking on red carries a bit more risk than walking on green, all other things
being equal)

And since I do cross many traffic lights every single day, that tiny risk
compounds. And compounds. And compounds. And if only a single, tiny accident
happens, the time I saved by "making a judgment call" for thousands of
crossings is all gone.

But hey, if you think life passes me by, more power to you. Glad you get to
feel like a rebellious risk taker, living at the edge, always aware.

~~~
tomchuk
As my high school drivers ed instructor always said: "Colored lights are
physically incapable of stopping a moving car."

If there's one thing that I've learned being a pedestrian in NYC for the last
10+ years: Traffic lights are very loosely correlated with driver behavior. In
my experience, you're far better off making decisions based on observing cars
and drivers than faith that a red light means anything to a cabbie in midtown
during rush hour.

~~~
groby_b
See above: "Situational awareness is good. But walking on red carries a bit
more risk than walking on green, all other things being equal"

Trust me, even in NYC, cars are slightly more likely to drive on green than on
red.

Or, in other words, a green light is a necessary but not sufficient
precondition if you want to achieve minimal risk for your crossing.

------
phil
Hot tip: filter uncommitted make-your-own-rules types by looking at driving
instead of walking.

Any Joe Schmo can jaywalk, but it takes a real free spirit to decide no cars
are coming and run that red light.

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stephengillie
That's a neat bit of people-watching. My favorite way to learn about someone
is to physically spar them. You learn a lot about a person -- how aggressive
or defensive they are, their cleverness or ability to improvise creative
solutions, how they respond when backed into a corner, and how they react when
given control over the ring.

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zwegner
While this might be a nice sociological observation, or a neat metaphor for
life, I think it's taking it too far. Yes, we judge people a lot. But trying
to pidgeonhole people's personalities based on how they cross the street is a
bit ridiculous. I think people need to be aware of the subconscious judgments
we make, and how wrong they often are. Open-mindedness is one of the greatest
virtues to strive towards IMO.

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softbuilder
My new micro-hobby is waiting for the walk sign. The whole point is to
experiment with self-discipline and not following the herd. It's hard to stay
put when someone crosses while I wait, and I find that fascinating!

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Smudge
I used to be a "cross on my own terms" type. Then I moved to Seattle.

On my first day exploring downtown, I crossed when no cars were coming (or
even approaching from far away) and got dirty looks from the gaggle of
Seattlites in front of me waiting for the signal to change. (It did finally
change as I stepped onto the opposite sidewalk.) After a few weeks, I just
stopped putting myself in the spotlight like that.

Now, when I go back to NYC, people seem irritated when I forget where I am and
stand there waiting.

~~~
Roedou
Here in Seattle, the pedestrian signals are serious business. A colleagues dad
was given a $70 ticket for crossing on Stop.

Going back to London / NYC, I always forget to just do it and walk across
whenever the opportunity presents itself.

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kirillzubovsky
I suspect you are going to get a lot of "you are wrong" comments; primarily
from people who would say "I cross slowly, but I am not average!" Good post, I
liked it.

~~~
sohailprasad
Thanks!

That's expected - after all, everyone think's they're above average
([http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-205_162-57568186/everyone-
thinks...](http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-205_162-57568186/everyone-thinks-they-
are-above-average/)), it's the phenomenon known as illusory superiority... "On
a scale of one to 10, you probably think you're a seven. And you wouldn't be
alone."

(Disclaimer: though granted, I'd hazard a guess that most HN readers are
generally above average.)

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sethbannon
This is a great analogy of why I prefer New York City over San Francisco.

SF is filled with "wait for the walk sign" type of folks, while NYC is filled
with "cross on their own terms" types. If you ever see someone waiting for the
walk signal in NYC, it's a good bet that they're a tourist.

~~~
vubuntu
The "risk takers" who "cross on their own terms" can be equally judged as
"gamblers" who gamble with their life. I mean this whole analogy given by
article poster is pointless first of all. And then comparing SFers with New
Yorkers based on their road crossing habits is even more pointless. In
developing countries (like India), where in most cities/towns there is no
designated zebra stripe crossing (and definitely no push button pedestrian
crossing signals), every one crosses at their own terms, some times dodging
medium sized vehicles, giving respect to large vehicles and stopping smaller
vehicles(bicycles, bikes etc) by waving their hand as they cross over. From
the street hawkers to the bankers, from a school going teen to the old man
with walking stick, every one does that. How does that give you any insight
into the psyche of a person !! Or the psyche of a geographical region? New
Yorkers cross on their terms more often possibly because there's just more
people, lot of whom are in rush and "crowd learns soon from the behavior of
few"

Trying to glean any meaning from such behavior is a futile exercise.

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robotmlg
What about "People who would like to 'evaluate the situation for themselves
and cross on their own terms' but must instead wait for the walk sign because
the cops in their town have nothing better to do than give jaywalkers a $200
ticket"?

~~~
sohailprasad
Metaphorically speaking, the cops around town that "keep people in line" are
just like people in life who "make the rules." They're there to enforce social
norms; thus people who say "this is just how it is" when faced with a new
situation. Point being, not enough people are willing to ask "why?"

Not arguing the technicalities of crossing the street or why laws are made,
just noting parallels between a decision that people make unconsciously every
single day and its relation to life and the "big picture."

~~~
cm127
Your metaphor is based on people breaking laws or not. I bet the risk takers
are mostly wealthier and whiter than law abiders.

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skorgu
If someone crosses an empty street (i.e. no honking and swerving) how do you
tell if they're #1 or #4?

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dsjoerg
You are under arrest for jaywalking!

