Kick in the Head

I’ve touched upon this subject before, but not sure if it was this way precisely. Sometimes I find myself walking behind a woman (not even during a late hour mind you) and most will give the half head turn to make sure that you know that they know that they’re there. Sometimes though I think when they feel uneasy they’ll stop walking, pretend like they’re looking around for some reason and then resume once I’ve passed. This has happened to me twice in recent memory. Obviously, it’s their own business if they feel uneasy and need to make sure it’s not some creepy guy approaching them from behind, but I can’t help but feel like I’m giving off some sort of creepy guy aura that causes them to do this. Maybe it’s because I walk very quietly I don’t know.

This is something that I’ve become very conscious of, especially during the night. I’m not sure if there was a point when it started, but it’s become a habit of mine to walk without making much noise. Though only when I’m wearing sneakers, it’s not worth the extra effort when I’m wearing shoes or boots. The earliest recollection I have of my attempts to walk without sound is when I was a kid obsessed with ninjas (we all had that phase, admit it).

The ninja exercises I would do involved wearing socks to muffle my footfalls, and trying to figure out all the parts of my house’s staircase that would produce a wooden creak. Once I thought I memorized them I would try to walk down the stairs without making a sound, often contorting and stretching my feet here and there. Sometimes in the middle of the night I would try to do this, but be discovered by my mom whose bedroom was right next to the staircase. Off topic, but the other ninja gear I sported was the ubiquitous sock balled up into another sock.

Nowadays I grow most conscious of my walking at night. This is because I walk pretty fast and end up passing most of the people I might even see a block away from me. Usually people (especially women) late at night will give a head turn to a person they hear walking behind to acknowledge that their presence has been detected. It’s my fear that since I walk so quietly that I would end up getting close to a person, and then suddenly casting a huge shadow on them causing them to totally freaking out. So usually if I see a woman I’m walking faster than in distance, I’ll either slow down my walking or cross the street in order to avoid the possibility of them screaming bloody murder when I pass them.

The thing that made me think to do this comic though was I was at a supermarket and passed a stock guy who actually did yell out a bit when he suddenly turned around to find me there.

I still remember the day this happened, though I was adept enough to not hit a parking meter. There was an unusual amount of trash on the sidewalk so it was at least a block before I could pass these people. Sometimes people sense someone is closing in on them so they either move aside or give a head turn to make sure they acknowledge their presence. These particular people did no such thing so I just had to jump into the street to pass them as soon as the opportuniy presented itself.