# I pit slow assholes who take up the whole damn sidewalk **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [March 29, 2012, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-slow-assholes-who-take-up-the-whole-damn-sidewalk/617198 "2012-03-29T20:17:10Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![pikey\_pete](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8edcca/32.png) [@pikey\_pete](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pikey_pete)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2012, 2:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-slow-assholes-who-take-up-the-whole-damn-sidewalk/617198/81 "2012-04-01T02:41:35Z")
> [@Kimstu](#): > > Sorry Gramps, but thirty years ago or thereabouts people were getting just as het up about this issue as you are now. From an [April 23, 1986 Miss Manners column](http://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1345&dat=19860423&id=aG9OAAAAIBAJ&sjid=wvkDAAAAIBAJ&pg=6483,1761781): > > I agree that obliviously hogging the walkway is and always had been rude behavior, but let’s not kid ourselves that this is a new social problem. yeah, but 30 years ago rates of obesity were nowhere near what they are now. I remember 1986, and I remember being able to get around people walking three abreast in the mall. Its not a new problem, but the nature of the problem has evolved, much like the flu, AIDS and MRSA. Also, I would like to point out that the professor specified ‘three or more uncaring free spirits walking toward me, taking up the entire walkway.’ The important word is ‘toward.’ he was encountering the creme de la crap of the walkway hogs. I don’t complain about them, because I will walk right through your group if you can see me coming. ---
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2012, 2:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-slow-assholes-who-take-up-the-whole-damn-sidewalk/617198/82 "2012-04-01T02:56:26Z")
> [@pikey\_pete](#): > > yeah, but 30 years ago rates of obesity were nowhere near what they are now. I remember 1986, and I remember being able to get around people walking three abreast in the mall. If people were walking three abreast 30 years ago and they’re walking three abreast now, then what has changed is merely their obesity level, not their sense of entitlement, as you were previously claiming. And the solution to the problem is still the same as it was 30 years ago: if people are hogging the walkway, say “Excuse me” to alert them to the fact that you’d like to get around them. Again, I quite agree that hogging the walkway is rude: I’m just calling bullshit on the claim that it’s in any sense new rude. ---
**Author:** ![flatlined](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/eb9ed0/32.png) [@flatlined](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flatlined)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2012, 4:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-slow-assholes-who-take-up-the-whole-damn-sidewalk/617198/83 "2012-04-01T04:00:56Z")
> [@tdn](#): > > Let’s not forget the people who walk one way, while looking a different way, usually while trying to disengage from a conversation. Why must I always be carrying a cup of something hot when I encounter these people? I’ve learned to hold my drinks away from me, in a way that when people run into me, the drink will be spilled on them. I was once hit by a stroller at a Renn Faire and the kid ended up covered with mead. That totally ticked me off, that stuff isn’t cheap. Much yelling happened, the stroller pusher was upset about the kid licking honey liquor off his fingers and I wanted her to pay for more mead for me. ---
**Author:** ![Ibanez](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/a4c791/32.png) [@Ibanez](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ibanez)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2012, 4:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-slow-assholes-who-take-up-the-whole-damn-sidewalk/617198/84 "2012-04-01T04:59:01Z")
> [@tdn](#): > > Please tell me that you took the poor bird to the vet, and have now adopted it as a pet. > > Wait, wrong episode. Any other bird I would seriously consider it, but not for pigeons. I’ll pass on the diseased flying rats. ---
**Author:** ![Zebra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/c0e974/32.png) [@Zebra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zebra)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2012, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-slow-assholes-who-take-up-the-whole-damn-sidewalk/617198/85 "2012-04-01T19:08:38Z")
I don’t walk down the street anymore. I put one hand over my mouth the other out in front of me and stagger/jog and make sounds like I’m about to vomit. People get out the way. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-slow-assholes-who-take-up-the-whole-damn-sidewalk/617198.md?page=4)