Crossing the road when there’s not a green man

[JabbyMcJabFace16]

I’ve just had possibly the strangest interaction of my life and just need some opinions on it.

I was at a pretty busy junction that I cross everyday, twice a day. I know that between the first two sets of lights, there is a thirty second pause which is long enough for me to cross the road in. I went to step out during this pause when a woman stood next to me put her arm across me and said, quite pointedly “I don’t think so! We only cross when we see a green man, don’t we [child’s name]. She then held her arm across me until the green man came up.

I do understand that it’s important for parents to teach their children road safety, but I also know this junction so well and it’s absolutely freezing tonight. I was stood there for a good 3 minutes longer than I needed to be because this woman wouldn’t let me go.

AIBU to think this is just going too far?

I know this junction like the back of my hand. Once the cars have stopped there’s a thirty second pause before the next set go green.

And that’s perfectly fine. The point is that we should all be allowed to make our own choice and not be held hostage by some self righteous busybody loon as the OP was.

I’m either coming down with something or it’s the Mounjaro I’m on. It was out of sheer frustration last night, I’m exhausted, freezing and I was at that point where I knew if I didn’t sleep I’d be better off staying up all night which didn’t appeal much!

You can cross the road when you want- it's not America. Why does OP need to be put in her place?

If I were the woman I might have commented privately to my child once you had crossed, but that's all. Putting her arm across was completely nuts and one day she'll find someone really reacts badly to that.

When DD was little I taught her to wait for the green man.

Ans when she got older I taught her to pay attention and nip across the road when it was safe to do so.

Win-win!!

I always wait for the green man simply because you cannot predict that some idiot isn’t going to come roaring around a corner at breakneck speed.

I’ve seen it happen in real time and it stayed with me

yes, exactly. Highly doubt she would have done the same to a group of rowdy lads. But tbh OP I can't believe you put up with it! (although I appreciate you're ill and it impairs our reactions).

You were right. I see kids waiting and wonder how on earth they cope when there's no crossing on a road. Essential life skill, weighing up when it's safe to cross, watching traffic. All kids and adults should be able to do this.Certainly there's no guarantee a green fucking man will keep you safe. And while we're on the subject,who says it's a man?

So, they should then wait until the green man - that’s why it is important to teach children that they should wait rather than expecting other adults to do so by example. People need to be taught to think for themselves and make the correct judgement that is right for them.

You can’t guarantee they’ll respect the green man either

Was she German @JabbyMcJabFace16 I'e had that happen to me in Germany, and by a group of German tourists in Russia, of all places.

Yeah right!! Old school for this comment !

Yes - the worst lesson is that it is safe to cross when there is a green man. It’s only safe when a car is not hurtling towards you, regardless of the colour of the lights

I was thinking this too. Surely children have to be taught how to cross when there’s no light or the lights aren’t working? Even if the general principle is rightly that they should wait for the green light(And still be cautious even when it’s flashing)

But this can happen regardless of the green men!
People really have lost the ability to risk assess for themselves!

Are you seriously suggesting that a grown adult who knows that they have poor vision/hearing might decide to cross the road simply because someone else is crossing rather than doing their own risk assessment?

I would've told her to move her arm or I'd move it for her. I'd also be tempted to tell her daughter ''and that's why we don't hold our arms in front of strangers, don't we?''.

If I don't have to wait, I don't wait, kids or not. I'm not here to educate a random kid, but to go somewhere.

Well if you’d already been hit by a truck you really had nothing to lose 🤣

I understand the lesson she was trying to teach her kids.

Is it possible that you could have given her kids a lesson on what happens when adults treat other adults like toddlers?

So true - independent thinking and the ability to make the right judgement call based on the situation is best. In Germany most people wait for the green man whereas in France motorists typically accelerate when they see anyone on foot stepping onto a pedestrian crossing so it's not safe to cross until the speeding car is gone.

God I really dislike these kinds of parents. Feel free to use me as a bad example of how not to cross the road, by all means, but if I want to risk being ran over, that’s my right and nobody should be putting their arm anywhere near me to stop me.

You can’t control the actions of others to make sure your child only sees ‘good’ behaviour.

I'd have gone with 'what the fuck business is it of yours, you interfering bitch' but yours would work too.

Was she German?
You get shouted at for doing it in Germany

I'm more cautious now I have DS is his buggy, (and honestly the green man is no indicator of safety round here as are there some utter cunts driving round with no regard to red lights. Fucking twats.🤬) But when I was living in a slightly more civilised place I'd cross the road if I didn't see any cars coming.