There's one thing I've only ever seen in here, or at least I've never seen it on the same scale anywhere else. What I've seen can be postulated as the following:
Gvalentino's theorem on how Bippitonians move
In Bippity Town, people move as if they are the only people in the street or the area. They conduct themselves in such a way that not only assumes that your life is moving at the same rate as theirs, but is probably moving a tick or two slower. This also means that if two or more meet each other and decide to have a conversation, the most logical place for them to have it is in the middle of a high traffic area.
I first noticed this when I moved here and went to the legendary Sam the Record Man on Yonge Street. There were many entry ways to other sections of the store, and if two people were going to have a conversation, that is where they would go, causing a bottleneck for people who were actually moving around and trying to do things. The more I looked the more I noticed this behavior elsewhere: if people needed to talk, they just stopped where they were and started talking be it at the grocery store, in the middle of a parking lot, or on the sidewalk.
The most galling place where this happens all the time, though, is on the TTC. Hardly a day goes by that a narrow part of the platform in rush hour is not blocked by two people just deciding to chat. Sometimes, what appears to be a heavily laden car is actually just packed at one end because a couple of people have stopped to talk and other people can't move from the packed part of the car to the part with oxygen and light.
The worst, however, is reserved for stairs and escalators. The greatest fear I have when I get on an escalator is not getting stuck halfway up if it breaks and no one coming to rescue us. No, it is "what if those people getting towards the top/bottom know each other?" I have lost count (and I used to keep count) of how many times I've watched people getting off an escalator have to make a bit of a running dodge and dash to avoid two people who have decided to have a little chat at the top/bottom of the escalator. Not only is this rude, but it's dangerous with a capital STUPID.
We're going on a little trip soon, and we'll be looking at this, but I'd love if people could do the same. If you live in Bippity Town, keep a count of times people just stop in a doorway or high traffic area to have a little chat and how often this has caused an unsightly human pileup. If you live in another city, let me know if you see the same behavior there. I have to say that my observations have led me to believe that this is localized to here, but like Seymore Skinner would say "Prove me wrong, kids. Prove me wrong!"
In Bippity Town, people move as if they are the only people in the street or the area. They conduct themselves in such a way that not only assumes that your life is moving at the same rate as theirs, but is probably moving a tick or two slower. This also means that if two or more meet each other and decide to have a conversation, the most logical place for them to have it is in the middle of a high traffic area.
I first noticed this when I moved here and went to the legendary Sam the Record Man on Yonge Street. There were many entry ways to other sections of the store, and if two people were going to have a conversation, that is where they would go, causing a bottleneck for people who were actually moving around and trying to do things. The more I looked the more I noticed this behavior elsewhere: if people needed to talk, they just stopped where they were and started talking be it at the grocery store, in the middle of a parking lot, or on the sidewalk.
The most galling place where this happens all the time, though, is on the TTC. Hardly a day goes by that a narrow part of the platform in rush hour is not blocked by two people just deciding to chat. Sometimes, what appears to be a heavily laden car is actually just packed at one end because a couple of people have stopped to talk and other people can't move from the packed part of the car to the part with oxygen and light.
The worst, however, is reserved for stairs and escalators. The greatest fear I have when I get on an escalator is not getting stuck halfway up if it breaks and no one coming to rescue us. No, it is "what if those people getting towards the top/bottom know each other?" I have lost count (and I used to keep count) of how many times I've watched people getting off an escalator have to make a bit of a running dodge and dash to avoid two people who have decided to have a little chat at the top/bottom of the escalator. Not only is this rude, but it's dangerous with a capital STUPID.
We're going on a little trip soon, and we'll be looking at this, but I'd love if people could do the same. If you live in Bippity Town, keep a count of times people just stop in a doorway or high traffic area to have a little chat and how often this has caused an unsightly human pileup. If you live in another city, let me know if you see the same behavior there. I have to say that my observations have led me to believe that this is localized to here, but like Seymore Skinner would say "Prove me wrong, kids. Prove me wrong!"
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1 comments:
Sadly, the dough-heads here in Montreal seem to have the same syndrome.
I hate people in large groups.
(Individuals can be rather nice)
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