The way of the Romans

The many small brainwrongs of people always amuse and frustrate me in equal measure. Over the past week or so I have been observing how familiarity breeds contempt.

Between York Road and Marsh Lane, I use Shannon Street to shave a couple of seconds off of my journey time. Many drivers do the same. At least, they did until last Monday, when the city-bound end of the street was blocked off. two signs on York Road explained this change, and there are no less than five 'road closed' signs on Shannon Street. Yet I was able to watch car after car driving right up to the new no entry signs before their drivers actually realised their route was blocked.

Also, I believe that one of the biggest signs of our impending extinction as a race is the increasing failure of pedestrians to press the button at pelican crossings. People seem to be forgetting that this simple action actually stops the traffic and allows them to cross the road safely, rather than waiting for minutes for a suitable gap between the cars (or for someone like me to come along and press the button).