Now that spring has almost sprung, people are using the sidewalks more – strolling home from work instead of shivering at that streetcar stop, or emerging from the underground PATH to get some fresh air and vitamin D.
But here’s the thing. If you walk the streets, please don’t be an asphalt asshole. The pavement isn’t yours alone. It’s as busy as any highway and requires the same kind of consideration and care for your fellow travellers.
Don’t get me wrong. I enjoy a leisurely ramble as much as the next person – along the boardwalk, in a park, on a tree-?lined side street. But on busy thoroughfares, you’ve got to pay attention.
Whenever I navigate a crowded street, I monitor not only the oncoming traffic but also frequently look behind me – the equivalent of checking a car’s rear-view mirror. I’m especially careful if I’m with someone, because we could be hogging the path.
There’s nothing worse than being stuck behind some lovestruck couple casually taking in the shops and the people, with their charmed in-?love existence and their linked swaying hands creating an impenetrable PDA fence.
No amount of throat-?clearing can disturb their cloud of obliviousness. If I can’t pass them by stepping onto the road (and risking my life), I’ll mutter a monotone “Excuse me” before they eventually detach to let me through. No doubt, they’ll shake their heads and say, “How rude.”
Then there’s what I like to call the “strength in numbers” situation: that throng of four or five walking toward you, no one letting you pass.
Of course, smartphones and iPods have made the situation worse. How can you hear me huffing behind you when your music’s blaring? How can you see or feel me hovering when you’re monopolizing the middle of the sidewalk while tapping out a text?
Even one person a few steps in front can be hazardous if he or she suddenly stops short to take a call: instant collision. Or there’s the shopper who bolts out of a store straight into incoming traffic. Obviously, they’ve got the right of way, right?
Wrong. Enjoy the weather, folks. And obey the rules of the pedestrian road.
