Tips on Pedestrian Merging

By admin

Walking around in public places should be a fairly simple process, don’t you think? It would seem like people walking to and fro could all blend into a harmonious flow like some kind of synchronized swimming exhibition. At least that’s my fantasy. Unfortunately, it is far from reality. The problem seems to come from select individuals who apparently have the idea that they are royalty and everyone else should be getting out of their way.

I wish these select individuals were few, but the truth is they are everywhere out there. Just as too many cooks spoil the pot, too many self-appointed kings create major jams on the sidewalks of busy city streets. As bad as they are, they are only part of the problem. Throw in the huge segment of society that are evidently living their lives in an oblivious fog and you really have some serious negotiating to do anytime there are people between you and your destination.

It blows my mind. Either I am in somebody’s way or they are in my way. I don’t know what the self-appointed kings do when they encounter an oblivious human obstacle, as they always seem ready to execute me - and I am courteously trying to yield to them! Most of the time, that is. Once in a while you run across someone who is so arrogant you just have to get in their way on purpose to try and bring them down to earth a little.

Mama Riah and I were on a cruise recently and took some excursions which involved bus tours. Now everyone in America knows how to properly exit a plane, right? You know the people in the row in front of you also need to exit so you wait your turn and exit after them. Apparently this common etiquette doesn’t extend to tour busses. The people in the rows behind us jammed the isles and forced us to sit there until they had all passed, as if the protocol is last row exits first or something. It was like driving in Boston.

With that in mind, here are some pedestrian merging tips:

• Walking in a crowd is like driving - you don’t just stop on a whim as people behind you will run into you.

• Remember that you are not the center of the universe.

• Traffic flows on the right in America. This goes for walking as well as driving.

• The sidewalk was not invented just for you, we all are supposed to get to use it.

• People in front of you might turn right or left at any moment.

• When everyone needs to go to the same place, going in the current order that you are arranged makes the most sense.

• You really are not more important than everybody else.

• To receive courtesy you might want to try extending it once in a while.

Papa Riah

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