This morning, I was out running when I saw a woman at a four-way lighted intersection hit the “walk” button.

With this particular “walk” button, when you press it, it gives you a 10 second head start before it activates the corresponding green light. So the pedestrian is the only one moving in the intersection.

By pressing the “walk” button, this woman stopped traffic so she could walk across the street. When the lights went red, and the walk light activated, she just stood there looking around.

The seconds in which she had the intersection to herself counted down, but she didn’t move. As the countdown continued, the light changed, and two cars were turning left at that intersection. About 3 seconds after the light changed, the woman decided to start her walk, making the two cars wait.

Had she walked when the “walk” light first changed, she would have been out of the way, and the two cars could have gone on. But because she waited, they now had to wait also, and risk missing the light.

These kinds of examples of people living in “me” world are plentiful. But my hope is by pointing them out, society may inch ever closer toward being a thoughtful and considerate one.