Saw this random tweet on Instagram, who knows if it’s true and it doesn’t really matter to me either. Basically, the question was: can somebody explain the logic of waiting until you have the red to cross the street?
A person said: When my mother first moved to Japan, she tried to jaywalk while pushing a stroller on an empty residential street. She was immediately stopped by an old, well-dressed Japanese man who solemnly told her in perfect English “the downfall of society begins with the individual”
There’s a lot of truth to that statement, yet I find some of the pushback quite relatable, like the frustration of a world increasingly dominated by cars. Collectivism and individualism is also a key conflict. As much as I like individualism to whatever extent my understanding is, it saddens me to see the lack of unity and collectivism in my country. But, back to the topic at hand, jaywalking is fine in many instances. There’s a lot of empty streets in Japan that locals still wait for the green light for. There’s also a lot of empty streets in which they don’t wait for the light. I think there’s a few factors that come into play with that decision for locals. As for me, I just follow what the locals do tbh. If they wait, I’ll wait. If they don’t I don’t. However, I agree that streets should be for the people. The way we move around the city should center around pedestrians first.
There’s a lot more depth to this issue that I’m not covering, of course. Why do lights exist? Why is jaywalking considered bad? etc. This isn’t a fully flushed-out thought, just a random one. (rediscovered for myself a really iconic illustration below)
