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The next photo is the PROMPT. Remember, all photos are property of the photographer, donated for use in Friday Fictioneers only. They shouldn’t be used for any other purpose without express permission. It is proper etiquette to give the contributor credit.
PHOTO PROMPT © Na’ama Yehuda
Genre: Hysterical Fiction
Word Count: 100
STOP!
Jeff drummed his fingers on the steering wheel. “Damned red light.”
“Down, Scruffy.” Meredith looked up from her magazine. “Can you imagine the chaos without traffic lights? In fact, until 1923, our fair city of Cleveland was a mess until inventor Garrett Morgan witnessed a serious collision between an automobile and a cart. The horse had to be put down and a little girl was severely injured.”
“And…?”
“And Mr. Morgan patented a three-position traffic signal which brought order to roads worldwide. He later sold the patent to General Electric who added colored lights. Hey, Jeff?”
“What?”
“The light’s green.”
****
Garrett Morgan
Rochelle Wisoff-Fields-Addicted to Purple 
Nice one, m’lady, as always.
You guys need lights, you aren’t keen on roundabouts, are you?
And what on earth is ‘Delayed Green’?
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Dear CE,
No, I’m not keen on roundabouts, although more of them are cropping up in the area. No idea on the ‘Delayed Green.’ Thank you re my story.
Shalom,
Rochelle
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Interesting fact, Rochelle. Of course there are other ways of regulating traffic flow. As CE notes, there are roundabouts. In South Africa, drivers take it in turn to cross intersections depending on who arrived first
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Dear Neil,
We have roundabouts and stop signs here to regulate traffic as well. Although for heavily trafficked areas, the stoplight is the best option. Thank you.
Shalom,
Rochelle
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I bet he never thought his idea would spread so far around the world, and just think how many accidents he has prevented, and lives saved!
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Dear Iain,
Just found both of your attempts to comment in my trash folder. WP has been doing this a lot lately and I’ve no idea why. Aggravating.
I’m betting Mr. Morgan had no clue how far reaching his invention would be. Although he was an inventor and a visionary.
Thank you.
Shalom,
Rochelle
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Great invention. Shame there are still too many collisions. Fun snip of history.
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Dear Tannille,
Sadly , there are always going to be those who violate the rules. Thank you re my story.
Shalom,
Rochelle
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I’ve learned something today, Rochelle. An interesting and informative story based on reality. Once more, well done. 🙂 — Suzanne
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Dear Suzanne,
I learned something when I started Googling for this story. 😉 I started with history of the traffic light and ,voila! There he was. Thank you so much.
Shalom,
Rochelle
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Mr.Morgan was indeed a game-changer.
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Dear Joy,
He definitely was. There was so much more to him than the traffic light as well. Thank you.
Shalom,
Rochelle
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Ah, another educational story, Rochelle. Fascinating! Thank you.
Susan A Eames at
Travel, Fiction and Photos
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Dear Susan,
It’s where the muse led me and gave me the green light. 😉 Thank you. 😀
Shalom,
Rochelle
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Nice story. I’m originally from the Cleveland area and didn’t know much about Garrett Morgan.
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Dear Trent,
He also invented the gas mask used in WW1. He didn’t get credit for that until long after he died. Thank you.
Shalom,
Rochelle
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good story based in fact. I had no idea of the history behind stop lifts as it’t not something one ponders…….except for some awesome wordsmiths. By the way, I hate roundabouts and have seen, and been involved in a collision at them.
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That is stop lights. I hate this finicky keyboard.
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Dear Jan,
Roundabouts aren’t my favorite thing either. As for traffic lights, there are still those bozo’s who insist on running the red ones At least when i Googled history of traffic lights, my curiosity was satisfied. 😉 Thanks, m’luv.
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Excellent story! One of those things you see every day and seldom think about. I was thinking that you might do something about Carl Reiner, actually. I guess there’s always next time!
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Dear Josh,
To save my sanity, I write and schedule my stories ahead. The jury’s out on how that’s working for me. 😉
Thank you.
Shalom,
Rochelle
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I’ve always wondered who was the genius behind the traffic light system, but never looked it up. Excellent. Now I can tell my husband all about it next time he grumbles at a traffic light 🙂
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Dear Linda,
I don’t know if the info will help your husband, it certainly wouldn’t mine. 😉 Thank you.
Shalom,
Rochelle
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I never even stopped to think of the origin of traffic lights. Thank you for an informative offering once again.
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Dear Sandra,
It was one of those moments, while foraging for a story for the prompt that led me to history of traffic lights. Sometimes the magic works and sometimes it doesn’t. This time it did. 😉 Thank you.
Shalom,
Rochelle
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Rochelle, I always admire how you blend story and history/facts. This piece is no exception.
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Dear Gabriella,
Thank you for your lovely comment.
Shalom,
Rochelle
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My cousin recently visited me from California. He rented a car and felt quite at home with traffic lights, but didn’t know what to make of our junction roundabouts! I used to live in a town that had so many it was known as Donut City!
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Dear Keith,
We do have a few roundabouts in our area. Not my favorite. How did your cousin do with driving on the “wrong” side of the road 😉 I think I would get very confused and confine myself to buses or destinations within walking distance. Donut City? I like that. 😀
Shalom,
Rochelle
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He did okay, but I declined his offer of a lift when he first arrived!
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I always thought traffic lights were a natural phenomenon. They grew, and we built roads around them. I did wonder who watered them though.
You’ve educated me again while entertaining. Well done.
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Dear Nobbin,
Always happy to entertain and educate. 😉 Thank you. (I think traffic lights have to be fed as well as watered. )
Shalom,
Rochelle
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Dear Rochelle,
Who knew? Of course, they had to be invented by someone, right? And of cours,e if anyone is going to teach us in the most entertaining way, it will be you!
Love this!
Shalom and lotsa green-lit love,
Dale
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Dear Dale,
Slowly I plod through FF traffic. It’s always fun to find an interesting history behind the things we see every day and never give a second thought to, isn’t it? Gad you enjoyed. Thank you.
Shalom and lotsa free-flowing hugs,
Rochelle
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🙂
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Yeah, NYC would be a mess without those …
Not to mention, it would make the lives of underling things harder. … 😉
(yeah, that’s a plug for my ditty …) 😉
Thanks for using my photo!!!
xoxo
Na’ama
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Na’ama Y’karah,
As you can see I’m slow to reply this week. I can’t even blame it on traffic. 😉 I can’t imagine life with traffic lights or stop signs, even though there will always be those chuckle-heads who don’t think they have to observe them. (Probably the same ones protesting mask wearing. SMH) Thank you for reading, commenting and for the loan of the photo.
Shabbat Shalom and happy Erev Fourth of July,
Rochelle
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Happy Erev Independence to you, too, and may sane minds prevail. Amen.
xoxo
Na’ama
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Dear Bombalurina Hairball W(T)F,
This post reminds me of a trip to Minneapolis in 1975. All the traffic lights were mounted on posts instead of hanging over the road. I ran two or three red lights before I caught on. The cops didn’t even bother to stop me since they saw our license plate read ARKANSAS. I guess they figured we hillbillies were to clueless to know any better.
Sorry to hear about the horse, and I hope the little girl made a full recovery. Damned Sunday Drivers.
Have a happy 4th,
Liza Jane’s Dad
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I think that was a street they had to widen to put the white line down the middle …
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Dear Liza Jane’s Dad,
I hope you didn’t get your head stuck under the china cabinet retrieving her ball. I hate to hear a grown man whine. I hope you are paying attention to the lights now. As Star Man said, “Red light, stop. Green light, go. Yellow light go–very fast.”
May the 4th be with you,
Bombalurina Hairball W(T)F
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Good story.
But, did they ever find Scruffy …?
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Thank you, Cuzzin Kent. Down, Scruffy!
Happy erev 4th,
Cuzzin Shelley
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What an amazing individual Mr. Morgan was, with a civic-minded dedication.
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Dear Lisa,
He had a brilliant mind and sadly, often, wasn’t given the credit he deserved. Thank you.
Shalom,
Rochelle
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Rochelle, you’re welcome.
Shalom,
Lisa
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Very interesting!
Roundabouts, that’s what you need. With traffic lights on them, we have lots of those!
I had a bit of a smile when I read that the world’s first ever traffic light (London, 1868) was manually operated and exploded after only a month, injuring the operator. Your stories always prompt me to look stuff up 🙂
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Dear Ali,
Ha ha, Made you look! Made you look! Glad you did. See? It took a Yank to make a light that didn’t blow up. 😉
We have a roundabout in the area that I have to use often, complete with traffic lights. I think I’m getting the hang of it. Thank you.
Shalom,
Rochelle
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I wonder if his estate is still receiving interest payments?
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I wouldn’t count on it, Liz.
Shalom,
Rochelle
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Another piece of fiction culled from history. A small but very very beneficial invention. Loved the story, Rochelle.
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Dear Neel,
When I find them, I must write them. Thank you so much.
Shalom,
Rochelle
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Again, a bit of history with a story. I loved driving a charter bus in Cleveland, until they started changing the lights at “rush hour”. All of a sudden most of the roads turned one-way with all red or all green lights. Add to that the one-way signs at every side street, and it became a maze. I had some very upset customers when I finally delivered them to their conventions or banquets! But as I explained to my boss (who’d received the irate phone calls) if they’d come down from their hotel rooms on time, we would’ve got there before the lights changed! So he told them, in a nice way, to piss up a rope.
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Dear Genia,
You drove a bus? Wow. My hat’s off to you. Thanks for dropping by. 😀
Shalom,
Rochelle
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who would have thought? i learned something new again. 🙂
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Dear Plaridel,
That’s the best of compliments. 😀 Thank you.
Shalom,
Rochelle
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Querida Rochelle,
I had a huge smile on my face after I read this and the comments on roundabouts.
First of all, GREAT invention especially in BIG cities – ie: NYC. Traffic is bad enough but without a traffic light – which aren’t always adhered to – there would be bodies everywhere.
They’re adding them to our roads here. You can’t imagine the people – elderly lol – staring at nothing while waiting for something so they can go. HILARIOUS !!!! except for the impatient.
I’d prefer to laugh.
Sssooooo …. un cuento con mucha informacion que puedo usar algun dia cuando este con amigos bebiendo vino. 👍💜🍷🍷
Be safe … Be Healthy … Be Happy 😍
Isadora 😎
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Querida Isadora,
Your comment makes me smile. I’m getting used to the few roundabouts we have in the area And I’m always happy to provide trivia for conversations over wine. 😉
Shalom y abrazos,
Rochelle
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Querida Rochelle,
I’m pleased I brought a smile to you. I hear that from friends – well, not lately because of you know what – that I have a fun sense of humor. I don’t plan on it. It just happens. Pero, que bueno … 👍 hope I get to use the trivis one day soon.
Be safe … Be Healthy … Be Happy 😍
Isadora 😎
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Nice story that fits well with the prompt. Stay safe!
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Thank you, Kalpana. 😀
Shalom,
Rochelle
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Dear Rochelle,
Greetings!
Absolutely loved reading about this invention and the brains behind it which made our lives so much easier! salute Garett Morgan and GE!
I also love how you intertwine history into your stories.
Thank you Rochelle.
Be well, stay safe. ❤
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Dear Natasha,
Thank you for such a lovely, affirming comment. 😀
Shalom and stay safe,
Rochelle
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Ah, the illogical frustration waiting at the traffic lights. Yes. I enjoyed learning about the history of the traffic lights – like many things that we take for granted – and how their use has been adapted around the world.
Thank you.
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Dear James,
My husband doesn’t do well in traffic. 😉 I am grateful for traffic lights. Thank you.
Shalom,
Rochelle
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Another interesting story along with interesting history! I love the down-to-earth ending. How many times we have these “deep” conversations while waiting for something to happen – and get distracted and then reminded when the “light turns green.” I love how that all comes together here. Have a great week, Rochelle!
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Dear Anne,
Finally, someone said something about my ending. 😉 You went exactly where I wanted you to go. Again, I never complain when people say they’ve learned something in my stories. I gladly give Garrett Morgan center stage, since he didn’t receive much of his due when he was alive. Thank you.
Shalom,
Rochelle
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I’d never wondered about who invented traffic lights. How fascinating!
Shalom
Penny
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Dear Penny,
Glad you came along for the ride. I hope you obeyed the lights. 😉 Thank you.
Shalom,
Rochelle
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Hi Rochelle and Happy 4th. Why do I long to be in the park when this day falls on a Saturday?
Love your story. And the light’s green.
Peace, Bill
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Dear Bill,
It seems all the parks canceled their fireworks displays yesterday. Happily, they’re legal in our neighborhood and the displays were fantastic! Thank you re my story. 😀 And this morning began with a mile swim. Aaaaaaaah. Makes me smile all over.
Shalom,
Rochelle
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Rochelle, the lady who does it all. Amazing. 🙂
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Nice one. Another introduction to a real life hero, Rochelle. I looked him up. He was quite a remarkable man with so many innovations despite having only an elementary school education. I read that his fire mask became the prototype and precursor for the gas masks used during World War I saving many lives.
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Dear Subroto,
He was a remarkable man. Sadly he never got the credit he deserved for the gas mask while he was alive. And we know why. 😦 Thank you.
Shalom,
Rochelle
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Thanks Rochelle for expanding my awareness about Garrett Morgan, I really like learning about inventors. I can imagine the traffic chaos before his invention. I’ve always worried about countries that have a traffic cop standing in the middle of a five way junction directing the traffic, they look so vulnerable !
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Dear Francine,
I would hate to be a traffic cop, although when I was a kid I remember films Candid Camera did of traffic cops set to music. Fun stuff. As for Garrett Morgan, he was a brilliant and underappreciated inventor. Thank you.
Shalom,
Rochelle
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A terrific invention!
Given the number of vehicles on the road now can you imagine functioning without it?
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Dear Laurie,
i shudder to think what it would be like without traffic lights. Thanks for driving by. 😉
Shalom,
Rochelle
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I am learning again, but also I enjoyed reading all the comments
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Dear Mike,
Half of the fun of Friday Fictioneers is the the comments we leave for one another, isn’t it? Thank you.
Shalom,
Rochelle
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Ah you do these historical tidbits so well! I loved how you weaved it into a traffic light conversation. All too relatable.
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Dear Fatima,
I’m so glad you related to the story and enjoyed it. Thank you for saying so. 😀
Shalom,
Rochelle
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This was like entering a conversation with my 10 year old son.
“Did you know that potatoes grow underground and is considered the most important non-cereal crop in the world…”
“Eat your dinner, boy.”
Well told 🙂
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Dear Peter,
I love the way you related to my story. It is just like that. Thank you. 😀
Shalom,
Rochelle
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