Since I’m at a train station every day I need to deal with lots and lots of people walking about. And that’s fine for the most part. I consider myself a fast walker – I’ll carefully pass people (on the left of course!) and continue my journey if need be. But I’m not an aggressive walker.
Have you seen these people? They often are doing something else, like talking on their Blackberry or listening to an iPod, and act like the entire sidewalk is just for them. They’ll let their backpacks or attaches hit you and say nothing. They’ll bump your arm walking up an escalator and just keep going, like your arm wasn’t even there.
So, aggressive walkers, I have a suggestion: please stop. We’re all in this together. We’re all walking together. So let’s share, okay? Later we can jump on our beds and drink soda.
Posted in Everyday Life
LelandWitter April 8, 2008, 6:02 pm
I often wondered if people in London walked on the left side of the sidewalk and passed on the right like they drive. I had asked many Londoners and none could tell me, which I thought strange.
I visited London this past summer and it appears that there is no convention whatsoever. It felt quite odd that there wasn’t a system. I guess I attribute it to there being a lot of people from many places, so the whole “walk like you drive” thing doesn’t happen.
So it appears that the US has at least one area of courtesy and convention that trumps the UK.
Merle April 9, 2008, 7:19 pm
You should amend that: pull over to the side and then stop. All too often I’m walking down stairs to the subway, the person in front of me will decide they want to check their phone, and they come to practically a dead halt right in front of me. Physically dangerous for them, financially potentially dangerous for me. Fools. Apparently walking competently and looking at a phone are mutually exclusive activities.
Sara April 27, 2008, 10:41 pm
The same thing happens to me in my school hallways. Kids will see someone they know passing by and just simply stop. or you have the freshmen who dont drive and haven’t managed to figure out that they cannot walk against the crowd. You also have those huge groups of people who figure they can take up 3/4 of the hallway, the hundreds of other students have to squeeze between the wall and ignorent, motionless, human blockage.