It may be redundant to write about this here, too but this is my go to and usual. You get what you get when it is free. Today, it was lights out. Not "and away we go" - that would have been more fun. 

Instead it was: 

No signals. 
+ No logic. 
= No safety.

Certainly not what I was expecting.  

When the power goes out, and in broad daylight, there are intersections that rely on electricity. Sure, it is just suburbia, but it is busy-ish. There are more people who live in my "township" than live in the fourth largest city in Montana and we are just slightly behind the population of the largest city in Wyoming. (Fun facts. Learned those a few weeks ago.) So, suffice it to say that we need the safety signals to keep things moving at a normal pace. 

You know the scenario. It's not uncommon. There is a main thoroughfare but then, there is a decent amount of cross traffic, too. We have stop and go - red and green - for a reason.

So, when the traffic signals go out, the cautious, polite thing to do is pause. Stop even. Look both ways. Take turns. Keep the flow moving. 

Nope. Not here. (At least while I was out.) People leaning on their horns for anyone who dared to slow even a little bit, let alone stop! Chaos. Near accidents. Huge, long lines of backlogged traffic on the secondary roads.

I had a moment of clarity, mixed in with a touch of dread. Is this the future?

I am not sure there is anything to do about it, unless we choose to fix it. We have done this to ourselves. We have let loose... said, go for it. Let the automation take over, because clearly the humans are not thinking about what is the right thing to do when the systems break down. 

We will be our own worst enemy if we allow common sense and common decency to go by the wayside. Maybe, the future is brighter than I am thinking at this moment, but for now, lights out might just the beginning. 

~ Dawn aka Hat Girl