Glad to be back.

[da]

Big props to the LJ crew for their hard work. I've been thinking of subscribing for a while, and this was the kick-in-the-pants I needed to do it.

Yesterday I finally got around to finishing the seat and back of the rocking chair that d. got for Christmas from his parents. I'll try and put up pics sometime this week. Looks pretty good. And it's comfey, too. Next I get to put mine together, yay.

Today, we were in Toronto, ostensibly to buy snow-shoes, which we've been saving the money for, since last christmas, but we've STILL not gotten around to buying... Alas, Mountain Equipment Co-Op (a canadian REI) didn't have them in-stock at the store we visited, and by that point we were cold from wandering the downtown, so we came back without them. Again. Sigh. They are sold locally, but more expensively. Sigh.

But we did pick out d's christmas present to me, a necktie that we both could stand (which was sort of fun). And I scored a VU Meter from a surplus electronics store on Queen Street, which I'm gonna turn into a geeky project (which I'll blog about if it works).

We had an Aha moment. So, to start with, Canadians seem to obey Don't Walk signs considerably better than Americans do, even in cities like Toronto. I've always wondered how this happens- do Canadian parents just do a better job drilling it into their kids, just like politeness (*)? Turns out that at least in part, the answer is: public ridicule. We crossed a street against a light (being the only people doing so) and this young girl (about 8) said loudly, "but how come THEY can cross and you said we can't?" Her mom's response was equally loud (and, I think, humourously exaggerated; at least I hope so) "Because they're bad people honey." We were laughing for a few blocks afterward...

(*) This difference isn't small. Since moving here, I've noticed that kids in Canada will ask before they start petting our dog, while when we're in the US, they've just started petting her. Also, there is an expectation of "please" and "thank you" that seems to work much better than in the US, too.

Comments

[earthling177.livejournal.com]

Re: Don't walk signs.

I dunno if it's just public ridicule, funny as that story was. Sooner or later they find out that they are not bad people if they do a dozen things their parents told them that only bad people do and that, more often than not, their parents are not bad people despite doing the same things.

However, this story, related to me by a friend, might explain why Canadians obey the signs more often than Americans. He told me that, while in Germany for work, he was about to cross a street at around 3am. It was bitter cold, there was snow everywhere. And the sign definitely read "Don't walk". He looked left and right (yes, like his parents taught him to, he was not that bad a person) and decided to cross anyway, it was bitter cold, 3am and no cars around, for crying out loud, he was a grown up, he knew when to cross a street safely. So there he goes, crossing the street and the sign still insisted "Don't walk" and he was feeling all smug until he reached the middle of the street, slipped on the ice, fell on his butt and then saw a car a block or so away. He told me he really panicked. What if the car couldn't stop? Time started dragging, he did not want to see his entire life flashing before his eyes. He crawled a couple of meters, stood up as best as he could and ran to the other side, nearly falling once or twice. He grabbed the lamp post as the car zoomed by. He said that yes, he knew full well it was probably just a coincidence, that he would probably have fallen anyway with the "walk" sign. But at least the car would have to make an effort to stop. As far as I know, he still doesn't cross against "Don't walk" in any country. ;-)

[da-lj.livejournal.com]

Hey, that's a good story. :) Thanks.