Innocuous things that make you irrationally embarrassed

French here. People not crossing the road despite there being absolutely no cars in sight and streets not being littered with dog poop and cigarette butts were two of the most shocking things when we went to Montreal a few years ago.

tbh I wait in the USA cos I'm paranoid I'll get fined for jaywalking. I'm not really sure how likely that is, I guess because I haven't grown up with it being illegal to cross the street I don't really understand when you can and can't do it, like if I'm walking down a suburban street, what am I supposed to do then if there's no crossing? Is it OK to cross the road anywhere then? I really have no idea tbh.

I've never heard of anyone getting fined for jaywalking. A good rule of thumb is, do you see a cop standing there issuing tickets to pedestrians? No? Then you won't get fined.

If there's no crosswalk just cross with caution, at a corner preferably.

I first encountered people not crossing despite zero traffic in LA. They'd be standing there on tiny side streets waiting for the light to change, no cars anywhere. I found it completely baffling. Being from Boston, I got it drilled into my head that pedestrians always have the right of way.

Apparently being subservient to your new automobile overlords is popular in Germany, we got loudly tutted at by some locals at a pedestrian crossing in Cologne once for not waiting.

xp I have heard of people getting fined for jaywalking, and this was in LA, so maybe that's why

I wouldn't assume if I couldn't see a cop that there isn't one lurking somewhere, that's just the kind of thing they'd do

That was just Jay Leno, and he deserved it
xp

walking while jay

got a jaywalking ticket in Seattle 20 years ago but I still cross like a boss.

Jaywalker for life

I’ve got places to be, like sitting alone in my car

LA occasionally does jaywalking stings, where they do hide and give tickets, and that includes starting to cross after the "walk" starts flashing red but it's still a green light.

for the lawful citizens, let me make sure i have this straight

https://i.imgur.com/4hu39Jr.jpg

assume you park at 1, and you want to cross the street to visit a shop at 2. assuming there's no traffic, you would walk to one of the crosswalks (arrows) rather than just crossing the street?

Nobody does that. Not even in Germany.

I'm sure the crosswalks in Pyongyang get a lot of action

When I stay in the crosswalk and obey the lights, it's not so much that I'm worried about getting a jaywalking ticket. The reason is more because if I get hit by a car in the crosswalk, my liability is pretty much zero.

brb, gotta go walk into that car parked in the crosswalk in the picture above

I'm ever crossing ~*sighs heavily~* a one-way street with no traffic in Prague, sure, I'm going for it.

it's a slippery slope from that to edward 40-hands, you ready for this?! wooooo!

Prague seems cool for pedestrians.

i'd catapult from streetlight to streetlight, no law against jayleaping

what if it was 2-way, in any city, though? (i didn't mean to choose a 1-way street as an example. i just had a strangely difficult time find a pic showing a long street parked cars and crosswalk options at the far ends)

i usually slither on the ground like a worm and hope no one runs me over

OK, back to the topic.

There's a fella in town running for the city board. His name is Bryan Frazier.

Seems like an all right guy.

But

This is his campaign sign.

https://i.imgur.com/JFacyRJ.jpg

I mean, I guess I should be glad his name isn't Bryan Seinfield.

hope he doesn't get pelted with scrambled eggs or salad at a campaign event

This might sound particularly sad and pathetic but I always try to do this if there are any young children waiting to cross - I don't want them to get the wrong ideas about how to cross a road

I relate v strongly to this tweet/think about it a lot

To little kid eyeing my McDonalds: thats right i can eat this any time i want... Dont ask about any of the other parts of my life please.

— we (@kanwetwitty) July 20, 2015

except instead of eating McDonalds I'm crossing a road without waiting for the green man

i get the Bryan Frazier might be a mf'er with some dark secrets

(feeling)

People who get really upset about "spoilers." I guess I find that, as an adult, the main enjoyment in watching a show is not "what happens next" but the writing, the acting, etc. It doesn't matter if I *know* x character on the Sopranos is eventually going to get whacked, it matters how it goes down as a scene. Something childish about caring that much about keeping every plot point a surprise.

Open disdain for millennia of narrative tradition is a pretty cool posish, I guess.

Complete opposite, I find the skillful revealing of new information to be one of the best tools available to any artist working with narrative, and taking a detached analytical view from the start often robs work of its impact for me. I enjoy being the audience for a work which was designed with the audience experience in mind, and really don't understand how people sometimes seem so keen to jettison this.

Also I am approaching 40 now and don't feel that this means I am somehow trapped in an infantile form of consumption.

It just means you're able to refrain from flipping the bird at storytellers, which is an honorable quality imo.

I honestly don't understand how people DONT get pissed when something is spoiled for them, you are being robbed of experiencing that narrative as it was intended to be experienced

What, you don't rip the pages out of books and read them in whatever order you want?

i too enjoy moving colours and shapes

What, you don't rip the pages out of books and read them in whatever order you want?

If it's good enough for B.S. Johnson...

https://spectator.imgix.net/content/uploads/2015/12/BS-Johnson1.jpg

I like to buy crossword puzzle books where all the words have already been filled in for me. That way, I can better observe the nuance of the hints and the positioning of the grid.

the detached adult way of watching movies kinda makes me crazy, same zone as comedy dorks talking about "crafting" jokes and stuff. There's this crazy-making apophenia aspect to it. Plus an aspect of like, hearing about surgery, makes me ultra anxious. Same thing when people talk about difficult home repair projects for some reason. Thinking hurts, I stay dumb.

Also: when people say like "oh man, great use of [song they like] in that one scene" I'm like bleeeeeuuugh

because it never is a great use

end rant

When celebrities on Twitter lobby to bring back a TV show they're on that just got canceled.

see also fan petitions

People who get really upset about "spoilers." I guess I find that, as an adult, the main enjoyment in watching a show is not "what happens next" but the writing, the acting, etc. It doesn't matter if I *know* x character on the Sopranos is eventually going to get whacked, it matters how it goes down as a scene. Something childish about caring that much about keeping every plot point a surprise.

Posting an excellent response on an ILX thread and then seeing two weeks pass... appear

It takes time for a fine wine to be appreciated.

at a venue with assigned seating, when people get busted for sitting in seats that are better than their assigned seats, and they have to do this play-act like they made a mistake instead of intentionally trying to get away with sitting in better seats

also taylor swift

When bands that just aren’t very good buy sponsored Instagram posts. Cart before the horse guys.

And I don’t just mean bands that aren’t my taste, I mean bands that sound really amateurish and underpracticed.