The perpetrators must have come overnight, with cans of paint in their hands and the certainty that they were doing the right thing now. One thing is certain: in the village of Niepars near Stralsund there was a brand new zebra crossing on the country road on Sunday morning. Anyone who has ever seen a real zebra crossing must have realized quite quickly that professionals were not painting here. But lack of loyalty to the line does not protect against punishment, and so there is now a suspicion of a “dangerous intervention in road traffic”, as the police say. The possible punishment: up to five years in prison.
It is unlikely that it will come to that. But if they do, it can be assumed that hundreds, maybe thousands, could declare their solidarity with the caretakers on the street. Because the somehow voluntary intervention in the architecture of road traffic has many supporters in Germany. The zebra crossing is only the last known incident.
The unknown perpetrators of Niepars probably meant well, after all they painted the white stripes directly in front of a school. But somehow the others think well too. A man called “Knöllchen-Horst” by the press became known nationwide in 2008 when he reported a rescue helicopter on duty because of illegal parking. And that was just his most famous act. Equipped with seemingly endless amounts of time, he is said to have given out thousands of tickets to motorists in his home town of Osterode. In 2013, a court sentenced him for his “denunciatory activity”.
“Get lost! This is not a long-term parking lot”
It may sound bizarre, but it’s only human. The cultural anthropologist David Graeber, who died much too young, wrote a book of the same name in 2018 about so-called “bullshit jobs”, meaning activities that are superfluous because they lack meaning and do not bring satisfaction. With fatal consequences. He wrote: “A man who cannot make a meaningful effect in the world ceases to exist.”
Exercising vigilantism in road traffic is not a job. In any case, it cannot have any effect in the narrower sense, because it is quickly reversed as soon as the real regulatory office arrives. The white stripes were soon professionally painted over in asphalt black. But if you point your index finger at a car window covered in Sahara dust and say, “Get out! This isn’t a long-term parking lot!” writes, who will already guess what that triggers in the owner of the car. Maybe horror, or defiance, maybe even a fit of laughter. This is also a form of self-efficacy.
Others are so stressed by the road users in their environment that they even become active as craftsmen. In Markdorf am Bodensee, in 2017, a man converted a rain gutter so that it should look like a speed camera. It worked: Some cars drove more slowly across the street, others honked their horns with anger. Just another very special case, like Knöllchen-Horst? No. In online shops you can find all sorts of stickers without having to search for them, which cost 7.99 euros in a pack of 30 and say: “I park like a complete idiot.”
Another vendor sells postcards that use a more direct approach: “You’re parking shit.” The product received 4.8 out of 5 stars from the hundred reviewers so far. A convinced customer writes, for example: “Nice gag to vent the frustration for a moment. It’s fun.” It’s clear that nobody likes troublemakers. But troublemakers who are sometimes happy about something are at least a little less dangerous.