Another big guy chiming in, and, yes, being large is a luxury in getting the right of way on sidewalks. Now, I don’t expect it, and I certainly move aside for ladies and little kids. With other guys, I even “meet them half way.” Nobody has to jump out of my way. Except…
Guys who walk down the sidewalk with a “I don’t move for anybody” vibe. You can usually see the swath they cut as they approach you, people dodging them as they exhibit a “too cool for the universe” obliviousness to the disruption. In those cases I almost invariably walk a steady line, sometimes (but not always) make a direct, glaring eye contact with whomever of the nitwits is blocking my way, and watch him jump when at the last second it becomes clear that he’s about to collide with my shoulder. I know it’s childish, shallow, that it’s a character defect, but I can’t help it.
Years ago a crowd of us, guys and girls, were walking down South Street in Philly. I see a typical frat bot “flying wedge” approaching, cutting the usual slice through the crowd as people jump to the side. At this point, I was about 6’3", maybe 250 pounds, reasonably athletically built (I lift weights).
I have my arm around my wife, and my best friend’s kid brother is walking behind us. In this instance, I just walk along like I don’t even notice a thing. The flying wedge approaches us and the at last possible split second, when it became crystal clear to Greg Marmalard that I wasn’t moving an inch, he jumps sideways, flinging his arms back in a motion that suggests he just missed getting clipped by a truck. After a few seconds, I hear my buddy’s kid brother, still behind me, mutter, “So that’s how it works.”
Like I said, I know it’s childish.