Cross Walk lessons

So a few things about crossing the street in germany.

First, at the cross walks, they have traffic lights like in america- you know, the three up and down, only the top two each have a red person crossing the street (much like the orange cross walk light in america), and the bottom one is a green person. For some unknown reason, both the top two lights are lit when its not time to cross. When you can cross, there is only the one green man light on the bottom. I have illustrated this for you. Excuse my poor drawing skills.

So, I asked people why the two red men instead of just... one. No one knows, but it seems like the germans are yelling at me through symbols. They are saying HAALLLLLLLLLLTTTTTT!!!!!! And then, the two red men go away and they say in a nice quiet voice... okie, walk now :)

Very odd.

SECONDLY Germans are all about rules and about following them. When the two red men are yelling HALLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLTTTTTTTT!!!!!!!! You DO NOT cross the street. It doesn't matter if a bomb is going off behind you, if there is only one car on earth and it's in Tokyo, you DO NOT cross the street. You MUST wait for the green man or it is Jay-walking, and against the law. I can't believe how much time I have spent standing at a corner with no car in sight, just standing, waiting for the light to say 'okie, walk now :) " Probably 5 hours in the 3 days I've been here. But perhaps that's an exaggerations. Though I spose less pedestrians are hit by cars and lawsuit lawyers probably don't make as much money.