The best crosswalk ever

By now I realize my obsession with Peruvian street signs in general, and the running figure in particular. It was one of my first posts, how incredulous I was at the school crosswalk sign, later I thought it was funny to see the running figure run away from a tsunami. Then I started seeing the running figure everywhere.

Run towards the exit!

Running away from the emergency exit window on the bus!

This looks more like jogging.... still, pedestrians should jog away from the construction work taking place down this street!

Run up the stairs to the exit! Now!

The signs I find humorous. But what took the cake was a crosswalk light in Magdalena del Mar, a couple of districts north of Miraflores. Not only do they have a figure that actually runs to demonstrate when it is ok to cross, it speeds up to a sprint when the light is a couple of seconds away from changing. See for yourself!

I find it especially funny given that Peruvians are not prone to speed, except when it comes to traffic. Someone tells you they will give something to you right now, ahorita, which means that you should either expect it later that week or come back for it next month. But put a Peruvian behind the wheel of a bus or car and life speeds up. This reminds me of a joke that Sam’s Spanish teacher told him:


A priest dies and goes to heaven. St. Peter welcomes him and assigns him his quarters, a nice enough space off to the right. As he settles in, a Peruvian bus driver shows up. St. Peter shows him to his quarters, a huge, extravagant palace with every luxury imaginable. The priest, puzzled, says to St. Peter, “What's going on? I was a priest. I dedicated my entire life to God. Who is this bus driver to get such an opulent place instead of me?” 


St. Peter says, “Well, when you told people to pray, sometimes they did, sometimes they didn’t. But when people get on the bus, they always pray!”


Amen.