Re: Walking

--- On Wed, 6/20/12, Donna Scanlon <scanlon.donna@gmail.com> wrote:

> That's all tourists? Really? Wow. Here in little county of
> Lancaster
> that's usually construction. There have been stretches where
> going
> into 3rd gear has almost given me a nosebleed.

Actually, yes, it is. There aren't five-mile queues Monday-Thursday, but there are on Friday afternoons and Saturday mornings. No roadworks are involved.

> Ellen, do you understand what a backhanded remark that is? I
> don't
> think I'm better than anyone else--which was actually my
> point.

But, Donna, when you lecture people about how mean we are by calling tourists a name, it certainly comes across that you must be a better person than we are. You don't ever lose your patience? You don't ever even jokingly think, oh, there are so many tourists here... etc. Do you always think positively that they're just helping your local economy? If so, then, yes, you are a better person than I am. And I don't mean that sarcastically. I'd like to be that kind.

>
> Please don't tell me about limited time. I have limited
> time, too. Try
> working at a different location every day and having to plan
> your life
> around where you'll be every day in terms of erranding. I
> might be a
> substitute teacher, but I work full time, and I don't live a
> life of
> leisure.

Donna, I understand the life of a substitute teacher. I'm ending my 29th year in education next month, remember? I also know what it's like to be a commuting teacher and work in one school for part of the day and another school for another part of the day. Granted, I've not done that in a long time, but been there, done that.

>
> Ordinarily, I don't either, but when I go somewhere, I do.

I wish I did. Alas, even as a tourist, I have limited time. I wish it were different. I wish I could afford longer holidays or more time off etc. And I wish I could be less greedy and not want to do/see so much with my limited time.
>
> Well of course, but *people* do that. The world isn't
> divided into
> "people" and "tourists."

As I said in a later email, perhaps it's not so much tourists -- it's just rude people.

>
> It couldn't be that their concern is keeping up and not
> ending up
> lost, could it? At least sometimes? I've found  a
> phrase that is very
> effective when that happens: "Excuse me please." It works
> with
> "locals" who are blocking a street.

And what about when you say 'excuse me, please' three times, rather loudly, I might add, and they still don't hear you? Donna, I do know how to be polite.

Why do I automatically move to the side of the sidewalk/pavement when someone approaches me? Why, when Ian and I are walking together, does one of us automatically move behind the other when someone else approaches?

I don't think that some people are worried about keeping up or getting lost. It's generally more of a lack of awareness of people around them.
You might ask Ian about the number of people he's had to dodge in Waterloo Station -- people walking and paying more attention to what they're texting on their phones instead of looking where they're going. No, they may not be at tourists at all. They may be businessmen and woman who commute daily. However, they're not paying attention to the world around them.
> Ellen:
> > Well, Ian did that at the Grand Canyon. I have a
> picture to prove it. But he wasn't the only one there doing
> it, and he didn't block anyone's path when he did it. :)
>
> Clearly he wasn't on a city street.

True, but he was by a public pathway with a lot of visitors present. He moved to the side.

>
> That's all "tourists" then? When I lived in Boston, that
> happened a
> lot (the transportation thing). Those were commuters, not
> tourists.

No, I said that there are a number of people. I didn't say that there are a number of tourists.
>
> On the other hand, I remember a "tourist" family who were
> getting off
> the T, and one child got distracted for three seconds and
> didn't
> follow right away.

Those things do happen, and, yes, that is scary -- and a parents' worst nightmare. But it can happen with non-tourists as well. However, at least it didn't happen because someone was barging his or her way onto the T. :)
>
> I don't always succeed, but I work hard at not dividing the
> world into
> "us" and "them,"  I want to be a kinder person, and
> that's
> incompatible with kindness.

Donna, I like to think that I am a kind person. However, it certainly sounds as if you're lecturing me simply because I lose my patience occasionally.
>
> I don't care about "nice" so much. In fact, a "nice" person
> would have
> just not said anything, but I believe that silence=consent.
> I know
> that I'm not being particularly "nice" right now, but I
> really am
> tired of sucking it all up. I still think calling people
> "grockles" or
> "speed bumps" or any other synonym for "nuisance" is kinda
> mean.

Well, I guess I'm just a human being and I'm not perfect. And, yes, you are being mean. You're lecturing those of us who were joking about these terms and telling us that we're bad people. Are we not allowed to joke or ever lose our patience?

Ellen