LUXEMBOURG-VILLE — An anonymous commuter rose to the status of heroic leader on Friday morning after he entered a crosswalk on Avenue de la Liberté while the signal was still red, prompting dozens of others to follow him and arrive at the other side seconds ahead of schedule.
“There I was, waiting with a bunch of people to cross, when a man pushed in front of us,” said Martin Wauters, 34, who works for an insurance agency near the Gare. “Suddenly he headed right into the intersection, although the light to cross wasn’t yet green.”
“Sure, he did take a look left and right, but not very carefully,” Wauters continued. “I said to myself, this is the sort of man I’d follow into any pedestrian crossing. To this unknown man, this fearless walker and brave crosser of wide avenues, I pledge my allegiance.”
Inspired by the act and overwhelmed by a sudden feeling of loyalty and trust, dozens of other commuters fell in line, crossing the street en masse.
Witnesses describe the now-legendary pedestrian as being of average height and build, dressed in an ill-fitting blue suit, and with a look of reckless determination on his scruffy face. In his right hand he clutched a rolled up copy of L’essentiel that resembled the type of sword used by Roman gladiators, according to one observer.
“I didn’t know that men like that still existed,” said Natalya Carucci, who was late for a work meeting when she joined the ragtag army of rebel pedestrians. “You know, the type of urban Spartacus who gets into elevators without first asking if they’re going up or down, and who doesn’t care if he forgets his work badge, because he will forge his own destiny and find another way to clock in.”
