You’re rushing through the bustling streets, zig-zagging between slow walkers and taking care not to trip over pushchairs and families with small children.
To make the arduous journey through the city even worse, you have to keep a look out for irresponsible cyclists who might not stop at crossings.
But when you reach a set of traffic lights and stand with a gaggle of people, you realise no one has even pressed the button.
It might be infuriating, watching them stand nonchalantly as if they expect the green man to appear by magic and Metro has dubbed them ‘button edgers’.
This specific group of people will happily wait at a traffic light and not press the pedestrian button.
Instead, they seem to think the light will change automatically, or they wait for someone else to press it.
Others might avoid the button because of hygiene concerns in an attempt to avoid picking up other people’s germs.
One person brought up the concept of ‘button edgers’ in a post on Reddit and asked: ‘Why does no one push the buttons at pedestrian crossings any more?’
‘Button edgers’ are a group of people who wait at a traffic light without pressing the pedestrian button
They explained how they had noticed it was becoming increasingly common in London.
‘I’ve noticed this getting more and more common over the last year but now it’s crazy,’ they said.
‘Literally 20 people standing around waiting for the traffic to stop. Not an intersection where it will turn eventually anyway.
‘I’m guessing either laziness or terrified of germs but neither makes much sense.’
It seems to be a long-standing issue as another Londoner aired their grievances with ‘button edgers’ three years ago on Reddit.
They penned: ‘I live right by a pelican crossing and EVERY DAY I walk up to it and there is always at least one person (often several people) stood there waiting to cross.
‘I don’t know how long they’ve been there, but it’s at least the fifteen seconds it takes me to walk up to the crossing from my door.’
They explained how they often think it’s ‘weird’ and press the button themselves.
One person brought up the concept of ‘button edgers’ in a post on Reddit and asked: ‘Why does no one push the buttons at pedestrian crossings any more?’
‘Immediately the traffic lights will change and we all safely cross the road,’ they wrote.
‘But why am I always the one pushing the button?!?’
One person shared their thoughts on the issue and commented, ‘People are morons’.
Several months ago, someone else fumed on Reddit: ‘Many many times has this happened. The most recent example was a set of lights that are only for pedestrians and don’t change on their own.
‘Had to awkwardly lean round a man just stood there so I could press the button.’
One person replied: ‘It’s honestly hard to tell if pressing the button genuinely accomplishes anything in some places.’
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‘People are morons’: The curse of ‘button edgers’ who refuse to press the traffic light buttons and clog up city streets
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