Non movers when walking on the pavement

[TheHumblePotato]

I'm not entirely sure that this has even occurred to others but it is something I've observed. Yesterday I went to dinner with my Dsis. The restaurant was walking distance but I noticed that while I was walking I was avoiding bumping into people, prams etc... it never occurred to me that others might be trying to do the same - I just thought it is basic instinct to avoid clashing with others. So the two of us decided to experiment and not move out of the way i.e. keep walking, the experiment resulted in me getting bumped into twice on the walk. Is this a thing? Is it a competition?

I notice if I have walking sticks , people give me a wide berth. I assumed they were being kind or scared the sticks would inflict injuries.

Wow. This is FASCINATING. Gonna try it (but don't live in London as a lot of PPs, so people generally less rude/there is more space).

Not to hijack post, one of my pet hates is people who STOP suddenly for no reason in front of you, and look offended if you then walk into them (I'm quite a brisk strider).

Going back to the point, I remember reading a paragraph in a book by the bloke who wrote The Unbearable Lightness of Being (it may actually have been in TULoB) (Kundra???) and in this paragraph, it's raining and a character notices that on a crowded street, the men will raise their umbrellas to allow women with umbrellas to walk on, but the women get competitive with each other, and lock eyes and neither will tilt or lift their umbrella, so their spokes clash.
I've seen that happen and it's def true. Another reason why I also hate umbrellas!

I recently tried to move out the way of a street sweeper, he had the huge broom and massive bin on wheels so obviously it was easier for me to move. The bugger stared right at me then quickly pushed his (skanky dirty) bin thing against me, trapping me against a wall. I still wonder what the heck I had possibly done to make him do that (or if he was just a Grade A fart-flap and it was my turn to be the target that day).

I also came to the same conclusion. When walking on narrow pavements it always seems to be me having to dodge around other people.

Ugh, umbrellas. I'm just the right height to get spokes poking me in the head when I walk past many women. I bloody hate the things, you're not going to melt if a raindrop touches you!

I am a daily pavement negotiator and find the psychology of pavement etiquette fascinating.

The worst offenders are large groups of secondary schoolchildren; sweeping along five abreast like a polyester blazer-clad combine harvester. I have become much more adept at standing my ground so I am not flattened against railings or forced into the ordure in the gutter. They always forget the widening effect of large bags though - I get a regular passing clout from cricket gear or Hello Kitty holdalls stuffed with all the accoutrements for a sleepover.

Couples - if two couples are approaching each other then each should form single file if the thoroughfare is narrow, according to EU legislation covering Wankerish Pedestrian Behaviour. I nearly got forced into the Regent's Canal recently by a pair failing to observe this courtesy - it was if I didn't exist. Luckily I swim like a fish but it could have so easily ended in a two-paragraph story on page 15 of The Evening Standard.

And woman with pram that I encounter every bloody morning - your dear son is not nearly as skilful at riding his bicycle as you think he is. I only have seven toes left now, for feck's sake.

- - - - > \\/

^ So many gems in that post, TalcAndTurnips. Please start a blog about your daily pavement travels

Ted - it would be horribly repetitive, I'm afraid. The General Public are arses on the whole.

(apart from all the MNers passing each other politely with a cheery smile and a doff of their caps. We're all lovely of course.)

I notice if I have walking sticks , people give me a wide berth. I assumed they were being kind or scared the sticks would inflict injuries.

In my case it would be a combination of kindness (of course) and mortal fear that I would somehow knock one out from under you and be responsible for a fall.

I'm confused - surely if you stopped avoiding people you bumped them as much as they bumped you?

If someone looks like they are going to try and walk over or through you just drop your shoulder put your forearm across your stomach and lean forward slightly to aim the point of your shoulder somewhere between their sternum of throat depending on relative height.

Its how rugby players knock other players out of the way without hurting themselves. It work great in crowds if you are small.

I spent 3 months on crutches and wasn't good at moving sideways on my very damaged knee. I had a lot of people walk their small children and their buggies into my crutches - they simply assumed I would budge over despite me already walking hard right/left on the footpath.

I don't move over on footpaths as I habitually walk on the hard left/right leaving plenty of space for someone coming from the opposite direction to pass, shifting sides on the footpath as necessary. I don't yield to couples/ groups unless there's a child/elderly person/buggy/wheelchair etc.

I remember complaining in first year uni that I kept getting jostled on the footpaths and a friend told me to walk purposefully and refuse to yield where I was on the right side of the footpath. Her advice has stuck with me.

this is one time where having control of a wheelchair (powered ) helps
people do actually get out of the way. even buggys.

I've never tried that experiment but I remember a while ago just observing different people's reactions when they were walking towards me - who immediately moved to allow me to pass, who didn't move an inch and expected me to move out of their way.

From my (very unscientific!) obversations, there seemed to be a hierararchy based on gender and race which influenced who deferred to whom and who carried on walking straight ahead and expected the other person to move.

I tend to be the one avoiding everyone, but then I walk very quickly so find it easier if I weave around people, particularly useful when stuck behind a daudler. As a rule, I tend to avoid collision but I'm especially mindful when someone has a buggy/crutches/suitcase etc as I know it's far easier for me to move than it is for them. I'm already severely flawed in the patience department so don't see the point in giving myself something to get irrationally irritated about, I do that extremely well as it is! also I can play the mission impossible theme tune in my head as I dart and weave through the crowds, I am almost normal, honest

I echo another poster upthread who said that if you're short you get bumped into more. People just don't see you. I avoid using umbrellas in crowds because at 5ft 3 I'm exactly the right height to poke eyes out with the spokes. Raincoats with hoods work better if I can find hoods that don't fall down to my nose that is

I perfected the duck and weave technique when I was working in London and regularly used the Tube. You don't get seen so you can line up your shoulders and slide through the crowd (this one works better if you're slim as well as short).

Respect to Talc!

I'm confused - surely if you stopped avoiding people you bumped them as much as they bumped you?

I find when I stop moving and think "I'm not going to move", people move for me. People obviously pick up on body language. The only people that still bump into me when I do that are the ones on their phones, not looking at all I always hope that they will drop the expensive phone and learn to look when they're going

^ I mean "when I stop moving out of people's way", not when I just stand still on the pavement...

This thread just reiterated the fact that humans are really fucking weird .

I just stand still if someones barging down the pavement towards me, that way any bumping is deliberate aggression on their part & people tend to shy away from that.

One of my secret pleasures is walking at groups of young men and forcing one or two of them to move out of my way. In my experience, it's this demographic who are the worst for expecting people coming in the opposite direction to move out of their way - even if they're taking up the whole path.

Make eye contact, walk confidently directly at the person you've made eye-contact with and give the impression that you will barge in to them. The bugger will soon shift.

I'd never do this to groups of elderly people though, I suck it up and politely weave my way around them.

I've noticed since having a pushchair, people look at you like you're the one in the way. When I'm the one moving at a decent pace, I'll stick to one side of the pavement rather than the middle and you still get filthy looks when you try and get past a dawdling person in the middle. Winds me up so much. I've also stopped saying sorry for simply trying to get past. People are rude!

When I had a baby I suddenly realised a whole extra dimension to pavement etiquette which is road surface quality! If an able bodied person walks towards a buggy or wheelchair the buggy/chair might aim for the smoothest bit of ground. The person opposite might think they're not yielding.

As a prancing nimble unencumbered person you might not see why they're doing this. It never occurred to me to look at the ground when walking til I had wheels to push...

I avoid using umbrellas in crowds because at 5ft 3 I'm exactly the right height to poke eyes out with the spokes.

I second this. I'm also 5 ft 3 and get total rage when it's raining and everyone's out with their umbrellas, blithely shoving them in your face and poking you in the eye with this. I don't own one myself - I wear a waterproof jacket.