Today. An ordinary day? Is there anything such as an ordinary day?
Well. Here is something about this one.
The very first electric traffic light in the United States was installed on the corner of East 105th Street and Euclid Avenue in Cleveland, Ohio. On this very date, August 5, 1914.
But traffic lights had been around a long time before that. In fact, the official birth date of the world’s first traffic light was December 10, 1868. It was installed at Parliament Square in London.
Here is how it worked. The system was composed of two mobile signs attached to pivoting arms that were manipulated by a lever. Sounds wonky. Anyway. The post was topped with a gas-lit semaphore (a thing with two arms and flags) to ensure visibility.
But it didn’t work out so great. Less than two months later, the traffic light exploded, killing the police officer who worked the signs.
The world said, “The heck with traffic lights. We’ll take our chances.”
Backed-up traffic had to wait 46 years before electricity use became widespread, and the first dual-colored traffic light was installed in Cleveland. Detroit and New York added yellow between red and green in 1920. The traffic lights that we now know were born and became the norm throughout the world.
Today, there are about 600,000 signals that control traffic in the United States, with the vast majority of them left alone after installation. Only when motorists complain do governments tinker with the signal timing and detection.
Go. Slow down. Stop.
These seem to be the universal actions for everything in our lives.
We either “go” at something. Or. We need to “slow down.” Or. There are times when we find it necessary to “stop” completely.
If only we had a big light to tell us when the right time was for each of these things. Because sometimes, we don’t know.
Perhaps we get these signals in little ways. But most of the time, we shirk them away and don’t pay attention before it is too late. Stop. Or Go? Or simply slow down. That is the question.
I’ll never forget this story from the era when I lived in Charleston. I was running between 6 and 7 miles each day. And I hated running every minute of it. Not only that, I was having pain in my knees and one hip. Well, my dear brother Ed came to visit for a week. Over breakfast one day, I was saying how much this felt like cruel and unusual punishment. He looked across the table at me, and just said as calmly and as plain as day, “Polly. Quit.”
What? Quit?
Well. That’s exactly what I did, and it made me so happy. I felt better. It was great. Thank goodness, my good brother was my traffic light.
So. The lesson I learned was to watch for the signal.
And follow the light.
May we all always follow the light.
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“The secret of success is to be in harmony with existence, to be always calm to let each wave of life wash us a little farther up the shore.” — Cyril Connolly
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“The only real mistake is the one from which we learn nothing.” — Henry Ford
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“Knowing yourself is the beginning of all wisdom.” — Aristotle
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“The hardest thing is to know which bridge to cross and which to burn.” — David Russell
The signals. If we see them.
