Tuesday, March 01, 2005
Trouble with the law
Yesterday I found another of those signs that display the noise level. This time I stood in front of it for a few moments, bellowing at it and watching the reading rise from the ambient 45dB to over 70dB. I felt very pleased with myself. Only then did I realise that the sign was located directly outside a police station. As the sign is presumably there to enforce the laws prohibiting excessive noise, I zipped it and left the area without delay.
In related news, this morning I went for a walk. There was a ramshackle barrier across the road, but three Chinese people moved it aside and walked on, so I followed them. Soon I was standing outside the US Consulate security checkpoint. A very nice man approached me and asked if he could help me. I replied "No thanks, I'm just out for a walk," not realising that there were probably several cameras and guns pointing at me. He told me the stretch of road outside the consulate was closed, and would I please exit this way. After meekly protesting that there was no sign to warn me of the street closure, I duly left.
