You can tell by the way I use my walk

Last updated 09:06 02/03/2010

I am a walker.  I like going for a stroll.  When I'm upset or stressed out, a walk around the block can set me on the road to an improved mood, literally. 

Often, in the midst of an amble interesting blog ideas or turns of phrase present themselves.  The walking route itself need not be picturesque to have this effect but just between you, me, and the lamppost, walking over bridges is my favourite.  However, in order for the walking to do its magic, I often have to retreat into my "walking bubble".

When I am out and about pounding the pavement, I move through the world but am not truly a part of it.  For some reason the process of one step after the other transports more than just in a physical sense.  I'm actually as much in my own head as I am on the street.  Which is why I often don't see people.

When it comes to footpath-located recognition and acknowledgement of acquaintances, I am a habitual "snubber".  I'm actually pretty good with faces (though names sometimes elude me) and have been known to pick out former primary school friends from fifty paces.  It's actually not a case of me not recognising the people I blank in the street.  I actually haven't seen them at all.  When I'm in my bubble I could walk past my own mother and not give her so much as a token eyebrow raise.  Fortunately this has never happened because if it did I would be in SERIOUS trouble, but it's always a possibililty.  Maybe I should apologise for this now in case it does?  Sorry Mum, didn't see ya there.

And when I've got those white earbuds in I am like the ghost that walks.  Have you ever seen a cat do that thing where it sticks its head under something and makes out like in doing so it has rendered itself invisible?  It's the "I can't see you so you can't see me" gambit.  Of course it's completely nonsensical (cats - higher reasoning not a strength unless kitty biscuits, the acquisition thereof, is involved).  A similar thing seems to happen when I'm walking.  Nobody can see me lip-synching to the Glee soundtrack (Vol 1) when I'm out on my walks.  My iPod is a cloaking device.  I can't see you so you can't see me.

Except that that is complete rubbish.  The number of times that I've been bopping along and then realised that someone in a parked car is getting the benefit of my pedestrian version of "Don't stop believing"...well once is bad enough, really.  Though, I feel compelled to clarify that my version is pedestrian because it's performed whilst walking, NOT that it is ordinary or run of the mill.  On the contrary, I rock that track.

Slightly less obvious, but just as embarrassing is when I'm strutting without a soundtrack and having a nice little conversation with myself in my head. Sometimes this is accompanied by facial expressions of surprise, confusion, disbelief, amusement and often muttering and hand gestures.  I probably do look just a wee bit insane but I'm actually just figuring stuff out as I go.  But I have a fairly expressive face and often what's going on in my brain plays across it whether I want it to or not.

Are you a street-walking snubber too?  When you put in earbuds do you enter your own "bubble"?  I've heard anecdotally that folk driving sometimes have their own "car concerts" that seem like they might have similar potential for embarrassment.  Does a walk take you somewhere other than from point A to point B?

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*Bean*   #1   09:17 am Mar 02 2010

Yes, yes, yes and yes.

Although I don't need the white ear buds to go into my walking bubble. I am constantly snubbing people in the street because I'm in my own little world and just don't see them. (Honest, I'm not usually that rude.)

I am impressed that you yourself to listen to Glee in public because I know I'd do more than just lip synch - consequently the pleasure that is Glee must be confined to my house (although I still pity the neighbours, who must definitely hear me singing - or should that be belting - along with the soundtrack).

And car concerts are so much fun, but again I try to confine those to solo drives out of respect for my fellow passengers' eardrums and sanity.

AT   #2   09:30 am Mar 02 2010

I like when you pull up at the lights and the driver in the car next to you is obviously listening to the same radio station as you....because they're singing away and you can read their lips :-)

If I'm walking with earphones in, I'll sing, I'll dance down the road, whatever. I'm having fun, I don't care!

And I agree with *Bean*#1, car concerts are great, but better on solo drives.

Ataahua   #3   09:31 am Mar 02 2010

I'm an internal conversationalist as well, and have to watch my facial expressions when walking. Been caught out a couple of times. Felt like a right nob.

Darth Michael   #4   09:41 am Mar 02 2010

I've noticed that I sing best when I'm in the shower.

So, if I was to share the optimal benefits of my voice with my fellow pedestrians then I'd have to rip my clothes off and walk in the rain as I improvise the yodel version of Metallica's "Wherever I May Roam".

Of course, I may get a few curious looks when I drop in at the corner dairy to pick up some milk on my way home again... ;-)

Courtney   #5   09:42 am Mar 02 2010

I am a severe car concerter.

I try to tone it down when there's friends in the car for their sake, but when I'm by myself I break it down. Everyone sees me. I know they do. It's not like I try to hide my dancing. I'm not embarassed. My dancing is embarassing, but I'm still going to do it. I'll be damned if I'm going to let someone else ruin my good time. ;)

A part of me actually enjoys it when someone spots me though. I just added a little bit of fun to their day. And maybe, just maybe, I'll inspire someone else to let loose and have a boogie in their space as well.

Maybe one day the whole world will groove in their car and not be embarassed!

paul   #6   09:51 am Mar 02 2010

heehhehee.... yeah 'cept those earbuds don't fit in my ears. So I wear bigger ear-muff type phones. I'm a shocker with names too. Never forget a face. So I'd be great as a witness in a police line up - unless it was a phone in witness situation.

"He says his name is Gary. Do you recall seeing a guy called Gary at the crime scene?"

"Uhmmmm... is he a tall guy with a limp, a freckle on his left knee and a pimple on his right eyelid?"

"He says you went to primary school together."

"No idea who he is sorry."

me too   #7   09:55 am Mar 02 2010

I do this all the time and I thought I was the only one. I don't listen to music when I'm out walking so no singing along luckily. But I am constantly talking and gesturing to myself - a concequence of living alone. People must think I'm mad.

And I never notice people either. This applies not just to walking, but also to shopping: supermarkets, malls.. The shopping bubble is only punctured when someone physically grabs me and starts bagging me for snobbing them.

I really do live in my own little world.

Bree   #8   09:57 am Mar 02 2010

I'm a HUGE fan of car concerts but like Bean I tend to only indulge when I'm on my own. I feel like it's the one place where I can really turn it up loud and belt along with the songs - though I only really do that on open-road journeys as there's too much opportunity for embarrassment when stopped at traffic lights etc around town...

I also listen to my MP3 player at work a lot and when I get my groove on it's very hard not to sing along. Instead I settle for a bit of head-bobbing and occassional mouthing along, or if I really feel like cutting loose, I may even hum along quietly - just hoping my workmates don't notice.

Annamal   #9   10:01 am Mar 02 2010

Oh hell yes, not only do I walk in my own little world, I listen to audiobooks and start sniggering at funny bits which must look insane to everyone else.

Leon   #10   10:04 am Mar 02 2010

After property values dropped by 15% in Johnsonville, they've asked me to never sing in the shower again.

I rarely sing in the car, but I definitely talk to myself, and talk about other road users while driving. Something worth remembering is that if you're in a convertible, the people you are talking about can often hear you.

I do a bit of a walking meditative state, but really the worst time I zone out is when I'm on the train to and from work. I am sitting in my own little world, listening to Pink Floyd, and reading a book. Unless a large amount of cleavage is walking towards me, I am inclined to drop into a semi comatose state.


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