The Berlin traffic light brush Photo: Oliver Ohmann
By Oliver Ohmann
On the way to work, my shoes rustle through the Berlin autumn leaves. Stop, that’s not true.
Nothing rustles, my shoes are just dusty. Because the day before yesterday six leaf blowers blew all the leaves off the sidewalk. Hell noise! And what remained was a sandy path. Not a romantic autumn. But better safe than sorry, says the BSR when it comes to foliage operations. Nobody should slip on wet leaves.
Speaking of security. Did you know that our traffic lights are regularly brushed? I discovered this on the way to work today. A man cleaned the traffic light with a traffic light cleaning brush.
The brush in use Photo: Oliver Ohmann
Of course I spoke to him and asked him to show me the brush straight away. The special tool consists of a long metal tube to which a round brush is clamped at the front end and locked with a screw.
“Is that a used microphone stand?” I ask. The friendly man shrugs because he doesn’t know. Who asks where the work materials that are handed to you in the morning come from?
He also has to get back to work, brushing the traffic lights so that everyone can get through the intersection safely.
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