Charge of the Light Brigade

I have a secret power, but I don't know how to control it. That makes me a pretty useless superhero. Maybe I need to find my own Professor Xavier to help me discover how to harness it and use it for good. Even then, it's still kind of useless, but maybe it's just the tip of the iceberg.

I discovered in college that I can shut off streetlights when I walk under them. This has continued but still isn't frequent; on my 1.25 hour weekend walks, I average about three during that period. (My range is from one to five.) It isn't the same lamp posts each time, either, so I can't just blame it on a faulty fixture.

I may or may not have the same control over a particular traffic signal on my route from work to the gym. It is a traffic light that controls access to/from an interstate exit. I encounter it immediately after exiting the local access road onto the interstate's cross street (less than a block), and it is always red as I pull into the turn lane that leads to the on-ramp. The thing is, just as I make a complete stop on red before turning (lawful good man that I am), the darned light turns green. It doesn't matter if I am the first car in the lane or the third or the fifth; it stays red until my car is in front. It is inconsistent in the duration of its red phase but maddeningly consistent in its tendency to change just as I stop.