The self-righteousness of a person who hogs the sidewalk is unrivaled. It is the ultimate pest on this campus. Yet, we are surrounded by these offenders – Athens has an infestation. To create a more cohesive campus and prevent me from shouting maniacally in the streets, keep to your side of the sidewalk, Athens.
Instead of thinking about sidewalks as slabs of concrete for the soles of our shoes, think about them as tracks, like a train. We break different parts of the sidewalk into moveable segments, like an organized train network. I refuse to compare our sidewalks to a highway because I vehemently oppose our reliance on cars as a society – that is a Pest article for another day.
This track can keep us organized when we walk: Always stick to the sidewalk’s right side, allowing space in the middle for other traffic to bypass you. We can keep space open for people who are in a rush and need to get somewhere quickly. There is no opportunity for awkward tailgating and everyone is a little happier.
The size of our sidewalks is particularly helpful to this proposal. A typical or “normal” sidewalk in Athens is four feet wide. This allows us space to divide the sidewalk to fit our needs and create tracks for ourselves. You can have two feet – I can have two feet. When someone needs to move quickly, we open up the middle briefly to let them pass.
Everyone has different walking speeds. However, if the average walking speed of people under 30 years old is three miles per hour, then we have to create space for people who need to go faster or slower. It is all about balance.
We also cannot forget how our infrastructure informs our walking movements, especially when it comes to accessibility. Not all sidewalks are treated the same.
In fact, some people are not walking at all. Our beloved Court Street is also made of bricks, which creates problems for people who cannot walk or need support to walk. If we are going to be considerate about others when we are taking our daily stroll, it is definitely time to think about creating more accessible walking areas too.
Yet, this “track” system I proposed can be interrupted by one of my greatest Pest peeves: The dreaded group walking method! This is when two or more people decide it is not only convenient to make it hard for everyone to walk on the sidewalk but it is their divine right to do so. For those groups I have one very simple proposition: When someone is trying to navigate the sidewalk, that does not mean your group has to. Break it up. Do not worry, you can be reunited, arm-in-arm, in five additional seconds.
Walking on the sidewalk is about more than organizing ourselves. It is about being attentive to other people and your own surroundings. More than anything, it is about practicing kindness and empathy when we are asked to see nothing but what is in front of us.
So next time you find yourself on Court Street or around campus, ask yourself serious questions such as whether you are operating on the single-track method or if you are in fact making your walking style everyone else’s problem. We have an opportunity to exercise empathy when faced with foolishness.
There is always space on the sidewalk – all we need is consideration for interests outside of our own. Let us reorganize how we use the sidewalk so we can keep each other safe from our faster friends and our even faster foes: electric scooters!
The Pest is an anonymous column for writers to air their grievances about Ohio University, Athens and society at large. Want to share your thoughts? Email the Editor in Chief at editor@thepostathens.com
