Sidewalk/pavement etiquette

Living, as I do, in a cityscape of narrow streets and necessarily narrow pavements, marciapiedi, the comportment one would hope to expect in such a environment is often lacking. What is one to do when one finds oneself walking toward 'pavement hoggers'?

Occassionally I find myself on very narrow, one-person-wide strips and I usually defer without any compunction to the elderly, without a thought. However, I am more torn when, on a wider pavement, I am confronted with two pedestrians, side-by-side walking toward me. If I am in a generous mood, I'll step into the street till past them; if I am feeling less so, I'll hold my course and at the last possible moment they will sacrifice some of their unnecessary latitude and dodge in behind their companion. Occasionally, they will barely give way at all and the resulting clash of arms or shoulders causes the offending party to look offended. This final situation can be expanded to even wider pavements and more people, three or four individuals who hog these public spaces. When I first came to Italy I found this public behaviour frustrating; now, while it still irritates me, I fight fire with fire. As I am 6'2", they rarely question my actions; if they do, I have a prompt retort lined up.

How is such a situation viewed and handled by you?

Whoever is wearing the better shoes gets the sidewalk.

When you bump into them, do you pick their pockets?

In nice areas of town where manners are expected, I walk to the left and go with the flow of traffic. In little alleyways where I walk with some of the more ah, undesirable elements, I use my wider frame and mean squint to make sure my path is clear. Honestly, I find most men step to the side while the women just keep on walking obliviously as if walking four abreast means they have right of way. Not my fault if my outweighing them a good 80lbs means they get sent into the gutter.

Another problem is, a lot of people are fatter than they realize and do know how much space they are taking.

It depends if they're marroquians or not.

Originally Posted by Britalian

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Living, as I do, in a cityscape of narrow streets and necessarily narrow pavements, marciapiedi, the comportment one would hope to expect in such a environment is often lacking. What is one to do when one finds oneself walking toward 'pavement hoggers'?

Occassionally I find myself on very narrow, one-person-wide strips and I usually defer without any compunction to the elderly, without a thought. However, I am more torn when, on a wider pavement, I am confronted with two pedestrians, side-by-side walking toward me. If I am in a generous mood, I'll step into the street till past them; if I am feeling less so, I'll hold my course and at the last possible moment they will sacrifice some of their unnecessary latitude and dodge in behind their companion. Occasionally, they will barely give way at all and the resulting clash of arms or shoulders causes the offending party to look offended. This final situation can be expanded to even wider pavements and more people, three or four individuals who hog these public spaces. When I first came to Italy I found this public behaviour frustrating; now, while it still irritates me, I fight fire with fire. As I am 6'2", they rarely question my actions; if they do, I have a prompt retort lined up.

How is such a situation viewed and handled by you?

Last time this happened, I just shot the tall effer that got in my way.

I take this thing out and start whacking their legs left and right in a cadenced pattern

Originally Posted by gdl203

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I take this thing out and start whacking their legs left and right in a cadenced pattern

It's funny, my brother's good friend is blind and so uses one of those. When people see it they get out of the way.

Originally Posted by tor

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It's funny, my brother's good friend is blind

I hardly think blindness is funny.

I'm annoyed by people riding bikes on sidewalks. Unless it's a person with young children I'm reluctant to move.

Originally Posted by Milhouse

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I hardly think blindness is funny.

I would contend it's hilarious

my NYC-honed patience is strong.

I wish to deliver a flogging to:
- zig zaggers
- center sidewalk loiterers
- parallel walking fatties. Especially when they're so fat that one can't muster the speed to pass the other
- mid-walk cell phone texters. Keep your eyes on the pavement, I will walk into you.
- Tall building ponderers. Yes it's a tall ******* building, admire from the side.

Originally Posted by gomestar

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my NYC-honed patience is strong.

I wish to deliver a flogging to:
- zig zaggers
- center sidewalk loiterers
- parallel walking fatties. Especially when they're so fat that one can't muster the speed to pass the other
- mid-walk cell phone texters. Keep your eyes on the pavement, I will walk into you.
- Tall building ponderers. Yes it's a tall ******* building, admire from the side.

- Speaking of blindness, tiny old asians wielding umbrellas are my worst nightmare.

Originally Posted by gomestar

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my NYC-honed patience is strong.

I wish to deliver a flogging to:
- zig zaggers
- center sidewalk loiterers
- parallel walking fatties. Especially when they're so fat that one can't muster the speed to pass the other
- mid-walk cell phone texters. Keep your eyes on the pavement, I will walk into you.
- Tall building ponderers. Yes it's a tall ******* building, admire from the side.
- Tiny old Asians wielding umbrellas on perfectly sunny days

fixed