Traffic Lights

As a child (small person SP), you don’t have a lot of say in things, the world just kind of happens around you & you are informed of your role by handbags (HB) & briefcases (BC). You’re not allowed to control anything important. You are not allowed to give imaginative & on occasion viable advice (we should pour the malteesers into the popcorn because then the movie will be better). And you are never to apply logic in questioning the ‘real world’ (as a niece rightly queried, if they are riding through the mountains why don’t the Tour de France riders use mountain bikes for that bit??? Closely followed by the observation you should be able to make noise at the tennis – these people are supposed to be good and she wasn’t distracted at all when she played sport during the lunch hour???). Right from day one you are deprived of real ‘in your face adult world’ power. Accept, that is, in one domain...

There is one place where as an SP you reign supreme, where the world stops & starts at your command, where adults rely on you & where your skills are without question. A realm that adults don’t understand ….
The TRAFFIC LIGHTS!!!

The button is at the right height. Adults often forget to push it, then just expect to walk, and some foolish people do not understand that if the lights don’t work immediately you need to push the traffic light button up to 15 times in rapid succession so that the light thinks there’s a crowd waiting to cross and then they will change quicker – it really is that simple!

I walked towards the lights. An HB & SP stood waiting…the HB went to push the button, but I threw myself in front knowing impending catastrophe would result. The child reached and bam – the button was pushed. But alas successive pushing was required.

That’s when a BC having a bad day intervened…

BC: “That’s not necessary.”
SP: Disappointed stare (possibly because he’d been prevented from continuing, possibly because BC was uneducated in the art of traffic lights).
Me: “Yes it is” – smile knowing smile at SP.
SP reaches……
BC: “Don’t, it’s annoying and immature – control your kid”.
HB: Shocked look because a child pushing a button is the end of the world as we know it??? (Won’t even touch the immature comment there)
Me: “He’s a kid, it’s a kid thing, just let him push it, it’s not hurting anyone.”
BC: “People like you (assume he meant everyone on the SP side) shouldn’t be allowed to have kids and defending him is immature!" Then in response to our "what the..." looks he responded, “I call it how I see it”.
Me: “Fair enough”…

So I jumped in the puddle to the left of the lights and completely covered BC - did I mention it was raining… (I’m really good at immature). Thereafter I was the receiver of some creative communications (only from BC, not any of us whom were also splashed inadvertently). The SP, myself and the surrounds found it all very amusing. SP pushed the button again and we crossed.
Me: “Thanks for getting us across the road.”
SP nodded – job done & adults firmly back in their place.

In a world where we demand children grow up at 200 miles an hour, where they cannot avoid the pressures and intensity of an adult environment, where we expose them to everything...why take away the power of the traffic lights??? Can't they just be kids for that 2 minutes???....

If I need to, I will start a traffic light revolution. We will wear glow in the dark outfits & dance & sing loudly at inappropriate times, we will eat malteesers in our popcorn, & talk at the tennis & we will man traffic lights everywhere until adults either get a grip or join us!!!!

Anyway….

These are the trees next to those traffic lights & they look like they may be good to climb....

…and it was funny, but you probably had to be there...