There's an Italian joke which goes something like this:
Q - "In Milan it's a rule; in Rome it's a suggestion; in Naples it's a decoration. What is it?"
A - "A traffic light."
Visiting Brussels recently, it occurred to me that in the matter of pedestrian crossings there might well be a parallel joke in Belgium. The next thing which struck me was that, for an object of no functional purpose whatsoever, Brussels' pedestrian crossings exhibit a variety and a degree of creative effort I can't remember having seen anywhere else. Well, given that one definition of "work of art" is "something on which creative effort is expended, but which serves no utilitarian purpose", I did the only rational thing possible; I started to view them not as mundane pieces of street furniture, but as objects of aesthetic appreciation.
Lovely.
PS - it has since been pointed out to me that Brussels' pedestrian crossings do indeed have a functional purpose: they provide oncoming drivers with a more accurate aiming-off point.
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