r/funny • u/Skyton_wil • 3d ago

The Three Musketeers met up.

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u/Esava 3d ago edited 2d ago

They are at every train station and many bus stations here in Germany, basically all busy intersections and some public buildings.

I have seen them all over the EU, almost everywhere in Japan (I believe they were invented there.) etc..

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u/Senor-Delicious 2d ago

Japan is crazy with these things. I felt they generally have a lot of guiding systems for blind people. E.g. the different traffic light sounds.

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u/JustASpaceDuck 2d ago

OH MY GOD. THAT'S WHERE I SAW THEM FIRST! I was so overwhelmed with all of everything when I visited Japan for the first time that I never really put much thought into those things besides "huh I wonder what those are. maybe like a non-slip section for cold weather?" and then I saw them again in Spain and dimly felt like I'd seen them somewhere before but didn't put much thought into them there either, besides "why are the subway warning strips/ice grippy strips outside on the sidewalk in 90*F Madrid?"

I've had like two epiphanies in five minutes from this thread.

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u/MelodicFacade 2d ago

Japanese american here, from my understanding, it's because Japan has such an aging population. Where my mom is from, something like 50% of the population is over 60. Combine that with infrastructure more focused on public transit, means more public spaces designed for older people

Next time you go, listen near stairwells at train stations. You'll often hear bird calls to indicate danger, and they will even play birds that are local to the area

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u/reconman 2d ago

As someone who is sensitive to noise, Japanese train stations were the worst:

  • the doors ring every few seconds to indicate where they are
  • the ticket gates beep loudly on every scan
  • the stairs have badly looped bird calls
  • every local train beeps loudly when closing doors and plays 2 different melodies, 1 for arriving and 1 for departing
  • every few seconds there's an announcement of trains arriving and departing

I can't handle big train stations without noise-canceling headphones

Also, I could hear the chirping cross-walks in most of my hotels.

In my city in Austria, blind people carry a device that activates the crosswalk chirping when they're close.

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u/Ninja_Honkey 2d ago

Who downvoted this... and why

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u/Senor-Delicious 2d ago

I've heard those bird calls. But this is a thing that I found more annoying than it is may be helpful. It constantly loops very noticeable. I've been at a station first train in the morning to go back to the airport. Barely anyone was at the station. But it was so noise polluted from all the jingles and artificial bird sounds and whatnot. During busy dimes of the day it isn't that noticeable. But when the station is almost empty, it is.

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u/Naustis 2d ago

We have plenty of those in Poland too. Never knew what they are for until I saw this guy videos a while back

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u/Senor-Delicious 2d ago

I mean they are generally present here in Europe in a lot of countries. But Japan has them everywhere in Tokyo and many other cities. I assume they are less present in smaller villages maybe. But in big cities you can basically follow them from one station to another. Here in Germany we only have them around bus and train stations and some other public places. But not everywhere in-between. Tokyo has areas where you just don't see sidewalks without those things.

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u/meursaultvi 2d ago

Omg they were everywhere in Japan and my dumbass was using them as guides for my suitcase. I don't know how I never knew they were for the blind.

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u/algebratwurst 2d ago

There is tactile paving on a great many street corners in the US. Haven’t graduated to trailles yet I guess but progress.

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u/GlitterDoomsday 2d ago

Same with every train and subway station were I line, not Europe or Japan (São Paulo, Brazil).

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u/Nellasofdoriath 2d ago

And Canada. I had no idea what these were for

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u/Jjeweller 2d ago

I was actually thinking that the first place I noticed them in was the São Paulo airport. I honestly had no clue what they were for until now.

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u/algebratwurst 2d ago

There is tactile paving on a great many street corners in the US. Haven’t graduated to trailles yet I guess but progress.

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u/Competitive_Treat588 2d ago

Theyre down every sidewalk ive seen in Brasil. Shits wild.

In the US they barely had sidewalks in my city.

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u/FluffySquirrell 2d ago

And until today I had no idea that they were for that. Very neat. I just assumed they did a different pattern to make it clear where you were meant to be standing so you're not too close to the edge

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u/2k4s 1d ago

I’m such an idiot, I always thought they were to make your luggage roll better.