Friday 11 May 2007

Pedestrian madness




Everyone knows that drivers in Sofia are simply mad. But few people pay attention to the fact that pedestrians are no more in their senses.

There's something wrong with the sign. You see it's in its place and yet not everything seems to be alright with it. The same applies to pedestrians. They have their sidewalks, traffic lights and zebra crossings but do they obey the rules? Of course not, this is Sofia, almost nobody follows the rules.

It reminds me of bulls: when they see red they go mad and run. In the same way pedestrians see red light and go. "There are no cars, so I'd better cross now, because I'm in a hurry".

I admit I also don't follow the rules every time. You know, it would be annoying to walk 5 minutes in order to reach the nearest traffic light or zebra crossing, then walk again for 5 minutes to finally get to your destination.

What I find really problematic is crossing on red light. One can never know whether a car would appear from somewhere.

Apart from the problem, there's also something funny about all this. It's very funny to watch people gather at the traffic light, wait for a few seconds, turn left, then right; decide to pass even though it's red and...GO! The first line goes, people from the other side of the street see how brave the others are and also go. Those who are on the queue also finally see people crossing without fear and make a decision to move.

Those who leave form a minority, and the author also is a member of this group.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Reminds me of trying to cross the road in Burgas. Wait for green man to come, start to cross, look! Argh, lots of cars coming around the corner. Time to run...

Unknown said...

Yes, the opposite is also correct. :) It reminds me of another thing which is reversed in Bulgaria: the nodding. Perhaps you've noticed that our nodding for "yes" is the rest of the world's nod for "no" and the opposite.
One can never get bored here. :)

Anonymous said...

Yes, that can be terribly confusing. Though I like it, and the Bulgarian gestures are not exactly the same as the western ones... Da zhivee Bulgarian individuality!

Unknown said...

I see that you're a big fan of Bulgaria. I'm curious to know why? :)