Walking Down The Street Etiquette
I was walking to work this morning (yes, I’ve taken to walking to and from work everyday as T prices are ridiculous and exercise is only happening for me if it’s got a purpose) and I witnessed something that part of me wishes I hadn’t, but part of me is lucky I experienced if only to have a greater understanding of mankind.
This college-aged woman passed me, binder held against her chest and iPod earphones attached. Her long raven hair flew behind her in the breeze and even with a quick glance I could notice the perfect shape of her legs and conservatively painted toenails. I didn’t give her a second thought, because if you throw a rock (or rather more apt would be a Gucci handbag?) on my campus you’re bound to hit one or two of these types of girls. However, the two men walking behind me obviously noticed her and made it a point to comment directly to her just what they thought.
“You’re really beautiful you know that?”
Cue slight pause in which I thought, “wow there’s a nice compliment you don’t hear everyday, I wonder what it would feel like if someone said that to me while I was just walking down the street?”
But then he followed it with, “But you’re so stuck up, see, that’s your downfall.”
I’m assuming the gentleman was miffed at the lack of acknowledgment given by the woman, and thus felt justified in insulting her demeanor. It is possible that she was willfully ignoring the comment, and if so I couldn’t exactly blame her. It would be a bit jarring to be told such by a complete stranger at 8:30 in the morning when you’ve previously been solely invested in your own little isolated world that we all reside in when we’re walking somewhere to a predetermined destination. However, my instinct tells me that it is more likely that she simply did not hear the comment because of the music blasting into her eardrums. In this case, the stuck up follow up comment is really ridiculous and could be easily disregarded as someone needing to defend their bruised ego.
What I don’t understand is why people think that they can say such things to a stranger and make vocal judgments about their character when they’ve been in contact with the person for mere seconds. When I walk down the street I either stare straight ahead or admire the cracks in the sidewalk as my feet fly past them. I do not engage with others unless I know them from previous life situations (and even then, this is limited most of the time to a quick “hey”) or we are stuck in a situation in which we are confined close together for an extended period of time like inside a broken down T car.
Do other people not feel limited in this way? Humanity really confuses me.
May 15th, 2008 at 9:47 pm
The problem lies in the word “think.” Many humans, such as stupers, (short, for remarkably stupid persons) do not utilize their brain power prior to speaking or acting. You witnessed a flagrant example. Take heart however; their are also some who do,, such as I suspect, yourself.
May 15th, 2008 at 9:48 pm
I obviously just failed to properly think, as you may notice by my
embarrassing misspelling of “their” as well as the double commas.
Thinking about stupers sometimes does that to me.
May 19th, 2008 at 8:02 pm
That’s seriously disturbing. I think he crossed the line with the first comment, and the second one… just a serious lack of respect. What a jerk.
June 10th, 2008 at 6:15 pm
This happened to me many moons ago when I was walking in NYC.
When I kept walking, the guy followed me halfway up the block, asking why I had to be so mean, etc. etc.
So I stopped and he asked why I couldn’t just take a compliment. I told him, “I didn’t ask.” Then I started walking again while the guy kept pace with me the rest of the block, hurling predictable insults. I didn’t look at his face. I just kept my head down and walked. So I noticed his shoes. They were an incredibly hideous green suede. It occurred to me that I could ask him how he’d react to me telling him he had really ugly shoes without him asking. I wasn’t rude or stupid enough to say it aloud.
He gave up at the crosswalk and I kept going. Soon after that, I started carrying Mace. And eventually I got older, heavier and less noticeable (not necessarily in that order.)
PS- Middle of the day, crowded street, average-looking (except for the shoes) white guy, in case you were wondering. Not that there’s anything wrong with that.