very simple

Last year, the NY Times did a series of articles on travel-related pet peeves, which I blogged about at the time. Now, they’ve focused in on annoying pedestrians, particularly those who become oblivious to their surroundings while walking and talking on cellphones at the same time. Yet again, they show an uncanny timeliness with my own life, as I almost punched someone last week who was showing some particularly egregious behavior. In the middle of morning rush hour, this idiot parked himself, in order to have a conversation, halfway up the stairs to the F train at 23rd street. The stairs, being only wide enough to comfortably fit two people across (one set of people up, one set of people down), and a train having just let off a bunch of people who were correctly walking up their side of the stairs, my only option was to actually threaten to push this idiot down the stairs. So what did he do? he walked down one step. So yeah, I kinda pushed him (but into the bannister, not down).

Maybe this is a good time for a lesson for all people attempting to walk in NYC, particularly with the influx of visitors we’re getting this week. Walking on a crowded sidewalk is very much like driving. If you stop short, someone will walk into you. If you insist on zig zagging while walking, someone will sideswipe you. No, you can’t walk four across in one direction – the one person walking in the opposite direction (or the crowd of people gathering behind you because you’re walking too slowly) is not obliged to get out of your way. If you’re a tourist, don’t take pictures of the locals without their permission, assuming we’re all here for your enjoyment (of course we don’t mind if we end up in the background of a legitimate picture, but we are not to be considered tourist attractions in and of ourselves). If you insist on taking pictures of every tall building, do it quickly (or better yet, buy a postcard – I guarantee it will be a better shot) – don’t stand there for ten minutes trying to keep people from walking down the sidewalk so that you can line up your shot. And, finally, if you need to ask for directions, try to ask someone who doesn’t look like they’re rushing to catch a train or get to work (Perhaps ask one of the multitude of people stopped at a "Don’t Walk" sign or the ubiquitous bus stops) – we’re usually happy to help, but when we’re obviously in a rush (say when I’m running to catch the bus about to leave the stop), you’re actually the rude one for trying to stop us, not the other way around.

Tags: bitching, new york city