Friends of the blog know how I feel about jaywalking. I eagerly promote it. And I scoff at those who object to it. I scoff heartily.
But in Berlin, jaywalking or bei Rot laufen, is seen as bad behavior. I've been publicly scolded for doing it. Deutsch-slapped. An old woman literally shouted at me across the street.
Well, Germans are just stupid.
Or so I thought.
You know how Europeans don't drink tap water because there's this sort of common understanding that tap water is dirty? (God knows why they don't use ice).
Well, it turns out there's a similar explanation for why they don't cross on red.
My language partner explained to me that she was once stopped by the police for jaywalking. Now, that's reason enough to be careful. But *why* would the police stop anyone for jaywalking? It's just absurd.
Then Claudia explained that the police rebuked her for...setting a bad example for children.
You see, according to German common sense, jaywalking makes one a veritable pied piper. All the children within sight will follow your lead, step off the curb without looking both ways, and get hit by speeding cars.
When Claudia told me this, I couldn't resist shouting in German at her across the table at the restaurant: "YOU ALMOST MURDERED A CHILD!"
Not nice, I know, but I had too. My favorite moral equivalence arguments are the ones that equate something totally innocuous with murdering babies.
So you can see, can't you, why jaywalking would be so highly frowned on here? I mean, insofar as you see something wrong with kids getting hit by cars. Which is the part I'm still having trouble with.
I told Claudia that parents are solely responsible for their own kids. I'm not responsible if I set a bad example for your dog and he follows me out into the street and becomes roadkill. Keep him on a leash. The same goes for your kids.
I know some American lady once wrote a book called "It Takes a Village", suggesting (at least by the title) that one is responsible for raising other people's children. Which is clearly foolish.
Right?
Suppose, for the sake of argument, that I make the world a more dangerous place for children by jaywalking. Have I done something wrong?
July 23, 2011
vor 13 Jahren
Hey Luke! Germans do drink tap water, as it is the most controlled edible good one can find in Germany. Unfortunately it doesn't come carbonated, so I think thats the reason for most to buy water if they do. As for the ice, in my opinion it just waters down your drink...
AntwortenLöschenYour comments on jaywalking are interesting, I've never really thought about it. Cause I do jaywalk (and have not been Deutsch-Slapped for it), but I wouldn't if police of kids were around. I can now call that my culture ;)
Setting a bad example can be morally culpable action, but that's not what you were doing.
AntwortenLöschenPresumably, you look both ways before jaywalking, and proceed with caution. So the example you set is *jaywalk carefully*, which is not wrong! Now, if you were darting between cars while children were around, I'd say you were doing something wrong (ceteris parabus). Children are going to jaywalk- let's show them how to do it carefully!
:)
I love having a certified casuist reading the blog! Suppose that kids are generally not observant enough to see how carefully I jaywalk? Then no matter how responsibly I do it, there's a chance I'll lead them into danger.
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