Signs of the times

I read an Inquirer article the other day by a Filipino socieologist that said Filipinos keep their kids from misbehaving by putting the fear of the unknown into them. For example, when kids start acting up, their parents or yayas (nannies) warn them with "Hala!" (the nearest/loosest translation I can come to is "Watch out!" or "Beware!") -- basically telling the kid that *some* kind of retribution may come from acting badly.

On most major thoroughfares in most of the known civilized world, local governments (and law enforcers) are content to place signs that read: "No Jaywalking". In the Philippines, that aforementioned fear of the unknown is used to keep unruly pedestrians in line.

So far, the best translation I came up with was: "No Crossing - It's Deadly."

And you know what? Us stubborn folk keep on crossing that avenue anyway.