When I'm walking on the sidewalk and two people walking side by side of each other approach me head on, I've noticed that most of the time the two people think they have a right of way to continue walking side by side and take up almost all of the sidewalk space. If I don't move to my right they will actually bump into me and act as if I was in the wrong, that I should have moved over to allow them more space on the sidewalk because there was two of them and only one of me. Then after bumping into me they act all mad as if I was the problem, when it was the person that bumped into me that should have reverted to a position either in front of or behind their walking partner, so as to share the sidewalk 50/50 between them and me, like cars on a divided highway. I find this incredibly arrogant and downright disrespectful of them. Since I've experienced this countless times I've adjusted my behavior to avoid the situation, but I've also taken notice of their response too. Now when I see two people walking side by side approaching, I move more to the right to allow them enough space to continue walking along side each other, and that allows us to pass three people wide. My respect for them and subsequent actions on my part alleviated any problems between us. That is the observation, not a big deal. The main idea is about the respect for each other, or lack thereof, and how the thought process of mine goes: My thoughts: Here they come, two people walking side by side. I'll move to the right to give us all more space so we don't bump into each other. My actions: I move to the right when I see that they are not going to adjust their position, allowing them plenty of space so as to not bump into me. Their actions: They smile with a hint of gratitude and respect for me that I moved over, which allowed them to continue walking side by side. My thoughts: While they had respect for me because I moved over for them, they lost any respect I would have had for them, because they did not adjust their position, which shows a lack of respect for me. Conclusion: I moved over for them and then they had respect for me. They didn't move for me, so I do not have respect for them. My actions caused them to respect me, and their actions (or lack thereof) caused me to lose respect for them. They walk away thinking I'm a nice guy, and I walk away thinking what assholes they are! Make any sense??
Something to be said about taking the high road, no pun. Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image! I hear you, though. It irks me the most when I'm out for a run and I have to run onto the grass, slow my run down because of this, and then get back onto the sidewalk. :/ If I'm walking side by side with someone, it is common courtesy to let the person coming towards me, have a little room. Sadly, common courtesy isn't so common, anymore. Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image!
It's only going to get worse as the population increases, too many people attempting to occupy the same space is a classic disaster waiting to happen. You could always try the unshaven crazy guy routine, throw a few abusive slurs, growl a bit, perhaps bark, they soon get out of the way. Doesn't work so well with women, as they have to put a fake unshaven beard on their face which kind of gives the game away that it's a ruse.
I have to admit to using the Crazy unshaven guy routine when people queue jump. The usual sorts are dithery pensioners that just ignore that you happen to be apart of queue and just start standing in front of you. I wouldn't growl at them if they just say "Excuse me young-un"( in relative terms) "do you might if I go before you?" I could quite easily fill in the gap that their scared of bowel control, or need to get back home before turning into a pumpkin, it's just plain rude though when they don't even ask. Others that push in are drunks in liquor stores that are too blasted to care, the store managers should bar them.
As my dog and I are on the sidewalks and trails every day for a couple of hours we encounter this behavior a lot from a wide variety of persons. I have actually had persons attempt to physically attack my dog instead of continuing on their way. I have been hit by speeding bicyclists, my dog and I were hit by a BBRB driving a brand new Cadillac sedan last November. I had a guy attack me with a large tree branch because I kicked his large dog as he attacked mine. I have had an 8 point buck confront me so aggressively that I had to throw a demo spark with the 400k TASER I carry most of the time. I always carry Law Enforcement grade pepper spray, have used it twice this year so far, pulled it and showed it to an aggressive dog's owner or an aggressive human being 6 times so far this year. When the group of young athletic folks of either gender come at me without accommodating for me and my dog, I drop low into a football forward blocking stance and plow on. I get my lane, road rules apply. It is said that to get respect you should give respect. I do that. If it is not returned I do not become a door mat and show belly. Intermittent punishment, while less effective than intermittent reward, is effective as a behavior modifier. Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image!
Population growth is slowing and is unversally predicted to stop at the end of this century. It turned out that prosperity is the best contraceptive, as people have so many more things they can do at night, and they can all afford birth control. At that point the population will begin to shrink. This hasn't happened in 60,000 years, since the Early Stone Age when there wasn't much of an economy to worry about. This time it will be a nightmare, because every economic system since Adam Smith assumes without comment that the engine that drives prosperity is a steadily increasing population of consumers and producers. You need to move to a better neighborhood!
It often happens to me the situation that you described, but the result is different. They don't have respect for those people who moved to the right to let them walk side by side. On the contrary, they don't show any hint of gratitude or respect at all. They continue walking and ignoring the people who moved over or came off the sidewalk.
Do you happen to live in Los Angeles? L.A. is the only place where I've been bumped into both purposely and repeatedly. I go on several walks a day where I live in San Diego, and pedestrians always make room for those going the opposite direction. Personally I always walk along the right side of the path, and I often move off path entirely if the approaching walkers are women just to be gentlemanly. The thing I find strange is how most passerby's fail to give even the faintest acknowledgement. No hello, smile, or eye contact... just head forward and eyes off into the distance. I feel like I could be carrying a blood dripping knife and they wouldn't even notice.
When I am walking with someone else I walk next to them. If someone else is coming and they wouldn't fit in the remaining space, then I go single file. If they do fit then I continue walking; we just both move a bit so they can pass in the remaining space. Sidewalks aren't highways.
In South Korea bumping and pushing others out of the way is common place and accepted, hope that does not happen here. Fascinating that the South Koreans consider pointing rude but running you over on a sidewalk acceptable.
