Rush Hour Networking

Some months ago I met Horacio at a crossroad in the middle of Contadero's neighborhood. Contadero is settled near Santa Fe and it's on my way home. This site has the quality to look like a little town inside a big city, so the streets are narrow, and there is a lot of public transportation, Buses, Peseras* and Taxis. So the traffic jams when its rush hour are frequently.

A city like Mexico, with so many cohabitants, becomes impersonal. The people usually see the other people but do not interact with them. So if you have a problem at the street, be prepared to be ignored by the passerby. This impersonalization, may have a correlation with the number of people that live in one city. The more people, more impersonalization. This is an hypothesis that may be corroborated by human studies investigators.

The thing is that I met Horacio at this crossroad, where I drive almost everyday. Our first encounter was a little weird. He was at this corner and make signs to the traffic. Of course that his gestures did not mean anything to me. First he stand up and cross his arms and hands, then he turned to the left and make the same with the other vehicles. I think for myself, what a strange man, and keep on  my way.

Several days passed by, and Horacio get a whistle, or maybe he buy one, the thing is that he continue making the same movement, but now with a whistle. The people that are regulars of this streets, began to make sense of what Horacio was trying to do, keep the traffic moving with a respectful attitude, first one street, then the other street. There always be someone trying to skip the rules, and there was a whistle sound to make conscience on the drivers to keep this attitude the next time.

Yesterday I saw Horacio again, he got for Christmas an fluorescent orange vest to make a better job. A lot of people identify him and there are some drivers tipping him, and of course saying hello. The public help he is doing, makes us to have a fun moment at a traffic jam and he really helps the cars to move forward. Also I recovered my faith on the  people that do this type of activities and help the human race.

Have you tried to share a little of your time to improve the life quality of the place where you live?

*Pesera: collective transportation unit smaller than a bus and that is used to move people in small distances. It's name came from the currency with which it was payed for a trip: One Peso.