Are you obedient to the green man, patiently waiting for him to light up with permission to cross? Do you consider a quick dash if nobody's watching, but scorn those who nip across on a red man if there are children being taught to stand with their toes on the right side of the kerb until the little green legs light up?
All very admirable behaviour - or so I used to think. What if the green man's beaming, but a car's hurtling along the road with no deference to the laws of traffic lights: would you really say, "It's all right kids, it's the green man - you can cross now"?
I have a friend who'd step right out on to the road, knowing she'd be in the right if the driver hit her. Now that's all well and good, but who wants to win a legal battle from a wheelchair? Surely a far better lesson is to teach kids is to acknowledge and assess risk, and then make an informed decision. If we simply wait for all the "safe" signals, would we ever get anywhere?
This week, I've been negotiating risk. (Come to think of it, most weeks I'm negotiating risk.) And I don't just mean at work:
- I weighed up the pros and cons of asking a friend something awkward (and deciding he was a good enough friend that I could);
- I've considered the implications of choosing one social engagement over another (ultimately throwing out "what's easiest for me" as an invalid factor, I'm pleased to say);
- and I've chosen to voice my support for a friend who's being marginalised by people who ought to know better (though in judging this last set myself I'm not sure I can claim any sort of moral superiority - but that's for another post).
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