AIBU to stop always moving aside for people in public?

I was aged about 46 when i noticed i had become completely invisible and people acted as if i was not there expecting me to get out of the way- that day i stopped always getting out of the way. Young people would often walk intoi me when i had been to my local market I had a shopping trolley with me which they often walked into to their detriment. The other day I was getting of a tube and a young lady attempted to get on before i had got off in the exact same space I was alighting from- clearly she never studied physics succesfully as she would have realised that a greater mass from a height stepping down into the same space was not going to end well for her- but i see it as part of their education.

It's almost always men where I am. Women will say sorry and work around eachother.

Men expect me to move. Even when they are in the middle of the placement. Young people seem to walk 3 a breast and not tuck in to let you past

Mehh I’m a feminist but I don’t see this as a men vs. women issue, as I encounter it fairly equally with all sexes and ages. And by moving first, it’s me who gets to decide where I walk (preferably on pavement and not forced into road) which is more important to me than not moving at all.

There were some very illuminating body cam videos of women doing this - the men were so affronted women didn't just move out of their way.

Nice user name, incidentally. I like the butter beans most.

I swear that some people don’t move and then when I do move, deliberately move in the same direction.

I just act early and decisively and then the other person normally follows my lead.

I do this too, I move out of the way because I'm quick, but unfortunately it seems to reinforce in men's minds that women will always move for them.

This is odd to me, its not something ive ever overly thought about. You generally make eye contact with each other and each person moves slightly if there is room. If there isnt one person just moves more. I cant say its occupied much head space.

But in ost cases BOTH people move slightly, and that's enough to avoid collision. You being bolshie is causing the collisions.

That was my first thought too. Be more Richard Ashcroft when out 😂

Am I the only one imagining the Bitter Sweet Symphony vid? 🎶😎 (hrtft)

It's Patriarchy Chicken game and I play that with men expecting me to dissapear when I have an angry day in my perimenopausal life.

I don’t mind or tbh even notice moving out the way of individual people.

However, something that drives me absolutely potty is people walking two abreast expecting other pedestrians to step into the road rather than them go single file for a moment.

So, a few weeks ago I decided I would no longer be stepping into the road for people walking two abreast. I make as much room as possible, but I will not step into the road and I just continue walking. If I barge into them then so be it. Or alternatively, I just stop and then they can go around me. Depends on my mood!

Me too.

I just swerve around people unless I don’t have a choice. I don’t have time or the energy to wait for people to let me pass after I’ve asked politely repeatedly for them to do so and they typically ignore me or seemed shocked they are being asked to move and I’m not going to just walk in the street during rush hour.

I’ve had a woman with two school age children standing in the middle of a 4-5ft path see me coming down it with a pram, she was leaving her house and on her phone. I reached her and she just stood there with the kids and still in the middle of the path, blocking. We stood there staring at each other for a moment. I politely asked her to let me past because I obviously couldn’t go in the street and definitely wasn’t going to turn around to cross the street to go two blocks and cross the street back on the same side when she could have just moved a few inches to the left or right to the side and told her children to do the same instead of taking up the entire path. Seemed to take her a moment to process and she then moved as did her kids. Thanked her while internally thinking ‘blimey’.

Couples and groups are the worse who seem to be allergic to walking in a straight line when there would be plenty of room for people walking from opposite directions and the same direction if they did.

Right behind them are cyclists who seem to expect people to have eyes in the back of their head and will not say a word that they want to pass on a narrow path when they’re silent coming up from behind yet ignoring the plenty of space for them on the non-busy road ndxt to them.

Easier when it’s just me alone but when I have the pram with me, not so much.

Not sure what happened between childhood and adulthood where people lost the ability to do straight lines and consider they’re not the only people on the path. I’m always telling my children to stand in a straight line and why and that is what we do on narrow paths and when it’s ok to stand right next to each other’s (the path is at least over 6ft.

I find on the whole women tend to be more willing to move, so sometimes I do, sometimes they do.

I've always moved because of being youngish/fit/no injuries so on average, I'm probably less vulnerable.
Now I do have an injury, and am on crutches, so wouldn't necessarily move.

TBH, I have found some people on mobility scooters are CF. They will see you approaching and not even slow down... just go full pelt ahead.