Unlocking the hidden code of the crossing lights.

Scott K.: We can’t go yet—we have to wait for the white man.

Sarah: Walking guy, Scott. We wait for the walking guy.

Scott K.: What’s wrong with white man?

Sarah: You don’t want to tell your daughter “Wait for the white man!”

Alice: Always wait for the white man!

Scott K.: The white man will show you the way.

Sarah: Don’t move until the white man tells you!

Sarah: Yeah, so, it’s the walking guy and the red hand.

Alice: Although come to think of it, “red hand” is also pretty racist.

Scott K.: The red hand will stop you.

Alice: My mother calls the walking guy the white lady.

Sarah: It could be a lady. We’re so sexist.

Alice: It should be “the non-gender-specific walking figure” and “the upturned palm.”

Henry: GO.

Comments

[jill]

i really did laugh out loud.. thanks, i needed that!

[Mir]

Henry is my kind of no-nonsense man.

[buffi]

There you go, Henry. What a problem solver!

[honestyrain]

i am with henry. go, indeed.

[DM]

Reminds me of many conversations I have with my roommate. Except that she does not have the flights of fancy and I usually end up just babbling at her.

[Miep]

oh alice, at 2 a.m. when i can't sleep and need some joy, you appear like a ghostly beacon of light. i have been giggling and snorting for twenty minutes now.

the upturned palm. hee hee hee.

in dublin, they all beep. don't walk says " bip bip bip bip" and walk says "CHEWbacabacabacabacabaca". my friend phil and i cracked ourselves up for weeks after our visit there by imitating the walk/don't walk signals.

[JuJuBee]

Oh Henry, you are a voice of reason in a mass of confusion. Damn cute, too.

[warcrygirl]

I'm jealous; my town is so small we don't have crossing lights. We have to wait for a car to pull up and trigger the green light and pray to god no one decides to run the red light this time.

Yes, I am a hick.

[giddy]

The summer my daughter was 2, she referred to a 'red guv' at stoplights several times before I finally realized she was saying GLOVE, and talking about the, uh, upturned palm......and my husband and I then proceeded to argue about the color of the guy. I always thought he was GREEN until he pointed out that he is, in fact, WHITE. I guess I just assumed, red hand for stop, figures that the guy would be green--and so in my mind's eye, he's green! Much more multicultural.

[Jennifer]

Our solution is "white walker" which I overheard another parent use one day. It solved the gender problem.

[MainlineMom]

I didn't know I had to be concerned about the traffic sign's race and gender. Thank you for enlightening me. And cracking me up.

[clickmom]

remember the good old days?

WALK/DONT WALKLife was so much simpler back then!

[alice]

Yes, Jennifer, but not the race problem...

[Dominique]

And I'm so dense. I'm thinking the school crossing guy is white, but looks androgynous.

[Kim]

My daughter refers to the little white man as the, well, little white man. It's a little disconcerting when she shouts "Look, mommy, it's the little white man! We can cross the street!" Oy.

(My first time commenting here, I think, but I couldn't resist chiming in on this particular topic.)

[Gloria]

Haaa! My friend used to say that all the time: "You can't walk until the white man says so" and I would have to shush her because um, we live in LA and people aren't so nice about such things sometimes.

[Suse]

Ah see here in Australia it's the little GREEN androgynous figure and the little RED androgynous figure. No hands, no words, no race problems. Just alien problems.

And ours too say bip bip bip and chewbaccabaccabaccabacca. So, go (androgynously) figure.

[mathew]

no comments about the chirping?

[Meghan Townsend]

I like Henry's pragmatic approach to crosswalk philosophy. GO!

That is too funny.

[Belinda]

Henry is my hero. Little less talkin' and a lot more walkin', please!

[Belinda]

Henry is my hero. Little less talkin' and a lot more walkin', please!

[Queenie]

Here in Hawaii, which is about 75% nonwhite, people frequently joke about how the white man is oppressing them by telling them when they can and can't cross the street. :) It's actually quite funny, although now that I write it, I realize it probably sounds awful and racist to everyone else. Ah well.

[lis]

A child's voice speaks more truth than we dreamed of in our philosophy; gaze downward, and see the tiny finger gesturing onward, and you shall know that you are "missing the point of pragmatism in all of this."

so said the wee ones.

[cagey]

What about the funny little bird whistle??? THAT freaks me out.

[Michelle]

I thought the little walky guy was blue. Like powder blue. Huh.