Traffic lights were hand operated.
The small town where I grew up had one pedestrian traffic light for crossing the main road. There was a small brick shed next to that traffic light with no windows and a little door. When I was little I was convinced that was an operation’s center where someone worked to turn the lights red or green.
In reality it was a power substation for the neighborhood, but I was seriously convinced that behind that door was a man looking at a TV screen and operating the traffic light at the right moment.
When we went to a larger town nearby, where there were traffic lights without a convenient mysterious building nearby, I told myself that the traffic light people were most likely working under ground, peeping through the drains.
I… was good at making up answers for myself instead of just asking my parents.
City Planner: Hey, I’m just reviewing the plans for the traffic light control shed and that there’s no way for the guy inside to see what the traffic’s doing outside.
Architect, who forgot that windows exist: Err… that’s for … well… it’s to ensure the safety of the operator during road rage incidents … They’ll be using CCTV to watch everything. Of course I know about windows haha…
