The Mental Game

Even though I just wrote something literally one minute ago, I thought of something else. Mental games. We all play them and are aware of them, but it's funny how things like that develop. Such as the driver who makes eye contact with the driver of the adjacent car at a red light. Game on. And then there are the people who think they want to race but aren't really sure so they both go kinda slow at the beginning but once they see the other car going at around the same speed they have to speed up to win. But that is beside my point. One of the mental games I've found people play is a game I like to call the "Who's gonna cross the street on a red light first?" game. I don't know if you've noticed this before, but there are many law abiding citizens who encounter cross walks at a red light (or the red hand), and obey the rules. They'll be standing there, and others will join, when really, half the time there aren't even any cars around. However, by standing there, they are all taking part of this game I have seen develop over my many years of crossing streets. All it takes is ONE person to start crossing the street on the red. I like to refer to this person as Moses, because he/she is the one who leads everyone across the street (or the Red Sea). [Without any real data,] I'd say 95% of the people who were originally waiting patiently on the corner, will proceed to cross the street alongside Moses. It's as if no one wanted to break the law, but once one person does then it's okay. That whole mob mentality psychology good stuff. Next time you're at a crosswalk and it's red, look out for Moses.

For more funny stuff on crossing the street on a red even though there are no cars, let's take a look at good ol' Harold and Kumar:



Maybe waiting for Moses would be a good idea.