Look at this photo. What do you notice?

Yes, the light is red. Do you see that patch of shade in the foreground? I am on my motorbike huddled beneath it. As soon as I noticed what I was doing, I snapped this photo. I am truly becoming Asian, I think.

Why? Because that’s what everyone does here,

I first noticed this fascinating phenomenon when I lived in Vietnam. The mass of motorbikes and bicycles would huddle under the shade of any strategically placed tree by the side of the road when waiting at a red light. It didn’t matter if the tree was ten feet, fifty feet, or one hundred feet before the light, the shade took precedence over being in a better position to go through the light quickly after it turns green.

I used to laugh at everyone and buzz right on past them up to the stoplight. I was like, “Hey, look who’s first now!”

When I moved to Penang, where the sun can get intense indeed, I noticed the same thing happening. Motorcyclists would use anything to shield themselves from the sun when they are not moving forward. The shade from a pedestrian overpass, a tree, a road sign, or a building. Whatever blocks the sun is good, and who cares how far from the intersection you are.

And now, the guy who used to love the sun and relish the fact that I could pass all of those “sissies” is now, in fact, a sissy himself. Or perhaps I’m just wising up.