General Etiquette > All In A Day's Work
Pedestrian "road rage" when walking to and from work
sweedetobee:
I work in NYC and I do a lot of walking to and from the subway in order to get to my office/home. I've been finding that I have pedestrian road rage lately (if anyone has a better term for it please let me know). I love walking and am happy that it is part of my commute, but I get soooo annoyed at other people.
There are the rude people that push past everyone else - um, we're all going to work most likely and there are only so many stairs out of the subway station so we have to merge like cars do in some places. Also, I do not have eyes in the back of my head, so I don't know you're there. A simple "excuse me" will actually cause me to move over and let you past if I'm walking too slow for you or in your way. But if I can't see you adn you don't say anything then don't get annoyed with me.
There are the people who are overly slow - Obvious tourists or anyone that has difficulty walking in do not bother me, but it is the people who READ - yes read! - the paper or a book while walking down a NYC street. Are you kidding me?
And the people who walk in groups - where you have 2 or more people walking next to each other such that you have to get into the street itself to get around them. Again, tourist groups are a regular occurance so they don't annoy me really, and anyone with kids I am ok with, but it is the so called professionals that do this that grates on me. Please don't take up the entire sidewalk during commuting hours. If you see people coming in the opposite direction mayeb you could move behind your friends in order to let other person pass?
So I've been listening to my MP3 player to just relax when I commute because in the scheme of life none of the above is even really important. But does anyone else get pedestrian road rage?
Chocolate Cake:
I get "pedestrian road rage" a bit in the mall and at my son's preschool.
At the mall, the hallways are easily 20' wide (each way) but, invariably, I get stuck behind a group of shopping friends who must believe that the only way to be together at the mall is to walk side by side....slowly, while they chat. Or a group of teens who hop, skip, jump, and shove each other all the way down the hall, oblivious to anyone who might wish to pass. The only way to get around either of these groups is to dart past if they happen to pause for a micro-second to look in a store window.
At my son's preschool, the hallways are about 10' wide. It's amazing to me how one standard size mother pushing one standard size stroller (holding the younger sibling of the student) can manage to take up the entire hallway, forcing everyone behind her to bunch up in exasperation. Whenever I've tried to get past these women, they suddenly weave and veer with the stroller to block my "escape route". OR, they see someone coming they want to talk to and just stop. OR, they stroll so leisurely (I have plenty of time in the world, doesn't everyone?), that people behind them can't even take a normal sized stride. My blood pressue shoots through the roof totally when two stroller pushers walk side by side all the way up the hall. I can't tell you how many times I've wanted to scream, "Move to the right! The RIGHT! Don't be such a hallway hog!"
Another Liz:
I get "sidewalk rage" all the time; between gaggles of teenagers, SUV strollers, the mess of construction on my way to work, clueless window shoppers (especially now. If you stop dead in front of me to look in a store window, I will crash into you, it's just physics! ::)) and don't even get me started on the drivers! I got soaked from head to toe this morning because some lead-foot just had to make it to the red light faster and drove through the parking lane, with puddle, to get around another car. >:(
Now, any advice on how to deal with it? The MP3 player is a bad idea for me because then I can't hear the (expletive) cars coming.
Pixie:
I've had those things happen to me, too. I TRY to remember to take a deep breath and ask myself, "In 20 years is this going to matter?" But I am human, and not perfect, so of course I do lose my temper at times, silently. But it is so annoying, and many times I have just been a knot of stress when I get to my car. The most usual one for me is that main aise in Walmart going from the front to the back of the store. Almost every time I'm in there, no matter what day or time, there is usually a "family reunion" taking up the whole aisle. So I have to move my cart through the clothing section to get past them, so I can go pick up a gallon of milk.
Another thing I have noticed since moving here, that I have never seen in any other area of the country is the cluster at the entrance of every store or building. No matter if you're going to the bank, grocery store, post office, or mall, there is always a cluster of people gathered at the entrance, neither going in or coming out... but they all gather right in the entry and often, the doors are permanently open as the "cluster" won't move to let people in or out of the building. Very strange, and I have never seen that anywhere else. I've seen crowded entries where a lot of people are coming and going.... but these are large groups of people gathered in the entrance visiting and chatting, not trying to enter or leave.
And some people wonder why I hate to shop and rarely leave my house. I'm afraid of being sucked into "The Cluster" and not being able to get back out..... LOL!
Chocolate Cake:
the doors are permanently open as the "cluster" won't move to let people in or out of the building.
That's the time to say, in a loud firm voice, "Pardon me! May I get through please?"
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