Welcome to Placebo Avenue!

You may have noticed some changes along 2nd Ave.  There are stop lights at Vine and Cedar now.  There's a two-way bike lane, which has cut the through-lanes from three to two.  (It was four lanes wide when I moved in.) And those gizmos pictured above have popped up on every corner.  It's really nice that the city has put them there at taxpayer expense and all, but the sad, simple truth is that they're placebos.  All the lights along 2nd Ave. are on timers.  I doubt that those walk buttons are even connected to anything.  Sure, you may feel like you're controlling your destiny, but you're being fooled.  It's a placebo, and all of its fellow walk buttons are placebos.  Do what I do; cross the street when there aren't any cars.  Don't press buttons.  These nominal vestiges of authority are only there for people to run into when they're drunk.  In conclusion: placebos.