People who don't move out the way on the pavement

I have honestly not noticed this. You know what that means, don't you? Perhaps I'm the problem. Eeek.

I love a bit of patriarchy chicken. I always step as close to the side of the pavement as possible (road or wall/shop/hedge depends on risk assessment at the time) and hold my position. Sometimes I may stop walking but I never do the side-on thing unless it’s the kind of pavement where there’s no room for even two non-arseholes to pass.

The patriarchy has more than a few times collided with me - usually very tall men with Important Briefcases and Important Lattes to whom I am practically invisible because I am small, female and over 50 - but usually there’s a swerve.

I will of course gladly leap into the road/hedge etc. for parents and toddlers, double buggies, people with white canes, or anyone else who is giving off the impression of being in need of the space.

I live near a college so daily have to navigate the hordes of teens walking 3-4 abreast in their own little bubble of self-absorption, I know it’s not necessarily their fault at their age but it makes it very stressful trying to herd 2 small children along next to an extremely busy road.

Yep definitely noticed this.
I was always the one to move out of the way, I didn’t really think about it as it was just automatic.
Maybe I’m getting grumpy with age but these days as I walk along I look to see if people have any intention of moving. They don’t. 9/10, it really is that bad.
So these days I will not step into the road as I used to.
With us it’s school kids, teenagers. As we have a school and they all walk home past our semi rural house. The pavement is not wide but you can walk three abreast. On the wider roads nearer the school they seem to just fill the whole pavement. Including around the bus stops.

We also have a primary school nearby and the parents take up the whole pavement chatting so to get past them and the cars you have to walk in the middle of the road. I don't anymore and am quite happy to shout “excuse me”with our dogs until they move.

so generally now I will sidestep ( not into the road ) if the on-comer does the same. Otherwise it’s full steam ahead.
If they’re glued to their phone they gets nasty shock

Don't get me started on cyclists riding on pavements... selfish arseholes.

I have posted about this before but it made me so angry. Narrow pavement on a busy road. Woman cycling along the pavement with her dog on the lead pulling away from her. Everyone, pedestrians, parents with buggies, workmen, children had to go onto the road to let her go by. Beep beep she trilled at anyone in her way.

I'm going to start doing this. Fucking sick of having to jam myself into a wall or go onto the road.

I've noticed this for absolute YEARS!

If I didn't really go out of my way to move out of their way then we properly collide. It's quite stark to be honest!

I have the same issue, one time a squeezed past the car while remaining on the pavement and the driver jumped out and gave me a right earful, I was a little shaken by it.

Personally I haven’t come across this issue, people generally dodge each other and smile or apologise. I have had several issues though with having to walk into the road because of cars blocking the pavement.

I end up walking in the road in the mornings not to avoid people but their cars, there's a narrow road where you can't park so they dump their cars on the pavement, some with a little gap one side and others right in the middle. Thet don't care about anyone else as ling as they can park right outside their house

I've started doing a very sarcastic "oh don't mention it".

I've been increasingly wound up this week by the total lack of consideration for others that so many people are displaying.

I was driving very slowly down a narrowish jetty to do a delivery the other day. It was covered in kids (not a problem) and a few parents. What was a problem was the kids refusing to budge out of the way, and shoving each other in front of the car etc. I mouthed "FFFS" in an admittedly exasperated fashion and one of the parents yelled FUCK YOU THEN at me.

Nice.

And when you've passed them, they're too busy on their phones

I should add, I am not in the middle of the pavement like an arsehole, I am always on the left, giving lots of space on my right. They still don't move though, so Patriarchy Chicken is a great method to show them that not everyone moves out of the way for them. Pedantic of me? Yes. I win what battles I can.

PS @longwayoff, if that's the case just slow down so you're behind the person you're walking with so others can get round you

For god sake if you see someone on the news for breaking an old ladies hip isn't going me to me isn't it 😩🤣

Oh, it's so much fun. Mostly, with most people where I live we eye each other up discreetly from a distance and just naturally move to one side of the pavement or the other, but you can tell which of the young guys (and there's usually a lot going up and down the hill where I play it the most because it's on the way to the cheap gym all the gen z-ers go to) are game for Patriarchy Chicken because they see you (often they are at least two abreast, not usually just them on their own), know you're coming, and still come at you two abreast without moving at all, not one inch given. So instead of doing the meek smaller weaker female thing and turning sideways to let them past I just keep walking face on to see what they'll do. Once engaged with Patriarchy Chicken, they do one of two thing - 1) avoid me at the last second, looking a bit shocked that they had to move, or 2) (which has only ever happened once), walked straight into a whole half of my body. Worth it.

We need covid back, when people were literally throwing themselves into traffic to avoid passing you in the pavement 😂😂 I still laugh at the insanity of it.

I do think that's true. Not queuing. Looking at phones or talking in the theatre or cinema. Taking up a lot of space on public transport or in a cafe (table of four when a person on their own in a busy space) etc. Cycling on the pavement dangerously. Not indicating in a car. Today there was someone in front of me who just stopped in the middle of the road because they'd seen a friend (no indicator/no pulling to the side, just stopping in the middle of the road).

I liked manners as I thought it made life go more smoothly but there's no point in doing it unilaterally.

I find this too - I appreciate that some people have mobility issues and I'm not referring to them. I'm also not referring to people walking slowly to drink in a particularly lovely view. I'm referring to seemingly healthy people meandering at 1 mile per hour along very unscenic routes. Don't they have anywhere else to be / anything else to do?!

Yes! I spend the whole time trying to manoeuvre my youngest because couples and other parents with children walking at a snail’s pace can’t go in a straight line on an obviously narrow pavement. Pretty sure, the children know how to do so since they have to do such things at school.

My DH says I need to be more gruff instead of polite but I shouldn’t have to be rude for people to allow me to pass on the pavement. What annoys me more is when I have the pram with both children on and someone comes with their own children onto the pavement already sees me coming yet decides to stay where they are without moving, blocking my way, and be “shocked” that I ask them to move out of the way instead of waiting for them to sort themselves out.

Pavement cyclist fast round a corner are another hazard around here.

it’s just incredibly dangerous and they shouldn’t be on the pavement in the first place. Pavements are for pedestrians.

I live in the SW as well and I was trying to think when this last happened to me and I can't remember. What often happens to me is I go the same way as the person coming the other way and then we both swap, laugh and one of us moves first. It's a sort of dance.

@longwayoff "I'm old and in pain. Moving to one side causes me more pain. I'm not moving for anyone unless they've got small kids or a pushchair."

rude much?
I hope you run into @GoodChat one day😏

Ploughed into me