What side do you walk on?

Abomination

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I walk on left and pass by going right as that seems to be how most people walk in a left-driving country.

Sometimes people do not and it's infuriating as it generates bloody pedestrian congestion.
 

Baffle

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All over the place because everyone else seems to think they own the pavement.
 

Xprimentyl

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Abomination said:
I walk on left and pass by going right as that seems to be how most people walk in a left-driving country.

Sometimes people do not and it's infuriating as it generates bloody pedestrian congestion.
Wow, that?s a little counter-intuitive if I?m understanding correctly. Let?s saying you?re walking a downtown sidewalk, the store fronts you?re passing are on your left(?), someone is walking towards you with the store fronts passing on their right side(?) and when it comes time to pass each other, you cross the other person?s path (move to your right) to pass your left shoulder by their left shoulder? Seems if you both defer to your left-most preference, congestion is most easily avoided.

But back to the larger question, let?s say the downtown street above is north-south oriented, top of your screen is north, the bottom is south; from a helicopter view, are the majority of the north-bound pedestrians on the left (west) sidewalk and south-bound on the right (east) sidewalk?
 

Abomination

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Xprimentyl said:
Abomination said:
I walk on left and pass by going right as that seems to be how most people walk in a left-driving country.

Sometimes people do not and it's infuriating as it generates bloody pedestrian congestion.
Wow, that?s a little counter-intuitive if I?m understanding correctly. Let?s saying you?re walking a downtown sidewalk, the store fronts you?re passing are on your left(?), someone is walking towards you with the store fronts passing on their right side(?) and when it comes time to pass each other, you cross the other person?s path (move to your right) to pass your left shoulder by their left shoulder? Seems if you both defer to your left-most preference, congestion is most easily avoided.
You misunderstand, I would pass people walking the same way as me by passing them on their right, because they would normally be keeping to the left.

Congestion is caused when people decide they want to walk on the right side of the path against people who are approaching from the right side, causing everyone to do that silly work-out-which-way-to-dodge-each-other delay.
 

Basement Cat

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On the right side moving counter clockwise--like when I shop at the grocery store.
 

Drathnoxis

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Xprimentyl said:
Jamcie Kerbizz said:
Isn't that part of etiquette anymore? Like that at door people going out should be given way, women before men, elders before children etc. (it's slightly different in different regions, ie. Middle East and North Africa but usually very consistent within a region). It's just set of customs to streamline daily societal relations, so people would know what to expect from one another without need of verbal communication and resulting disputes/clashes (going by Antoine de Saint-Exup?ry's fox thought on source of conflicts :) ).
I was tought, that left side countries claim they derive it from tradition of jousting and one visiting such country should respect local customs. Honestly though, it just doesn't matter. People at one point just had to pick a side to stop bumping onto each other and getting angry about it.

Question, did your parents not pass onto you these customs when you were young?
Sorry, what exactly are you taking issue with? The question had nothing to do manners, courtesies or tacit communication. I observed at a local mall that in free-form pedestrian traffic traveling in opposing directions, the vast majority of people favored patterns similar to what I observe on our right-hand side driving roads: walking on the right-hand side. My question was whether or not people in countries that drive on the left-hand side of the road also walk on the left-hand side of midways and sidewalks and whether or not people felt the former was the reason for the latter.
Rude. Learn some manners. Jeez.
 

Jamcie Kerbizz

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Xprimentyl said:
Jamcie Kerbizz said:
Isn't that part of etiquette anymore? Like that at door people going out should be given way, women before men, elders before children etc. (it's slightly different in different regions, ie. Middle East and North Africa but usually very consistent within a region). It's just set of customs to streamline daily societal relations, so people would know what to expect from one another without need of verbal communication and resulting disputes/clashes (going by Antoine de Saint-Exup?ry's fox thought on source of conflicts :) ).
I was tought, that left side countries claim they derive it from tradition of jousting and one visiting such country should respect local customs. Honestly though, it just doesn't matter. People at one point just had to pick a side to stop bumping onto each other and getting angry about it.

Question, did your parents not pass onto you these customs when you were young?
Sorry, what exactly are you taking issue with?
Unlike you, nothing.

It is quite simple answer. This is matter of traditional etiquette, that has been passed on from parents to kids for generations for menial daily utility reasons. Just like other things I mentioned. So divagation if it's traffic regulation determined etc. Eh, it's the other way. Traffic regulations are formalized representation of traditional regional customs (or in some countries customs of victors).

Now since such question surfaces I wonder and ask if parents stopped doing it? I'm literally interested if this is something universal or just individual case. NOT offended or disgruntled by it just surprised and intrigued. Did parents stopped passing on such customs, so knowledge of it just died out in some parts of the world. Thus your bewilderment, thus this thread, thus my bewilderment.

Cheers.
 

Xprimentyl

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Jamcie Kerbizz said:
Xprimentyl said:
Jamcie Kerbizz said:
Isn't that part of etiquette anymore? Like that at door people going out should be given way, women before men, elders before children etc. (it's slightly different in different regions, ie. Middle East and North Africa but usually very consistent within a region). It's just set of customs to streamline daily societal relations, so people would know what to expect from one another without need of verbal communication and resulting disputes/clashes (going by Antoine de Saint-Exup?ry's fox thought on source of conflicts :) ).
I was tought, that left side countries claim they derive it from tradition of jousting and one visiting such country should respect local customs. Honestly though, it just doesn't matter. People at one point just had to pick a side to stop bumping onto each other and getting angry about it.

Question, did your parents not pass onto you these customs when you were young?
Sorry, what exactly are you taking issue with?
Unlike you, nothing.

It is quite simple answer. This is matter of traditional etiquette, that has been passed on from parents to kids for generations for menial daily utility reasons. Just like other things I mentioned. So divagation if it's traffic regulation determined etc. Eh, it's the other way. Traffic regulations are formalized representation of traditional regional customs (or in some countries customs of victors).

Now since such question surfaces I wonder and ask if parents stopped doing it? I'm literally interested if this is something universal or just individual case. NOT offended or disgruntled by it just surprised and intrigued. Did parents stopped passing on such customs, so knowledge of it just died out in some parts of the world. Thus your bewilderment, thus this thread, thus my bewilderment.

Cheers.
I generally don?t dignify senseless, self-righteous (and in this case misfired) internet passive-aggression? and I still won?t.

To clarify more simply: I asked ?WHAT?; that implies there?s something I don?t know. I did not ask ?WHY,? which would imply there?s something I don?t understand; your response would apply to the latter should I or anyone have actually asked it.
 

Jamcie Kerbizz

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Xprimentyl said:
Jamcie Kerbizz said:
Xprimentyl said:
Jamcie Kerbizz said:
Isn't that part of etiquette anymore? Like that at door people going out should be given way, women before men, elders before children etc. (it's slightly different in different regions, ie. Middle East and North Africa but usually very consistent within a region). It's just set of customs to streamline daily societal relations, so people would know what to expect from one another without need of verbal communication and resulting disputes/clashes (going by Antoine de Saint-Exup?ry's fox thought on source of conflicts :) ).
I was tought, that left side countries claim they derive it from tradition of jousting and one visiting such country should respect local customs. Honestly though, it just doesn't matter. People at one point just had to pick a side to stop bumping onto each other and getting angry about it.

Question, did your parents not pass onto you these customs when you were young?
Sorry, what exactly are you taking issue with?
Unlike you, nothing.

It is quite simple answer. This is matter of traditional etiquette, that has been passed on from parents to kids for generations for menial daily utility reasons. Just like other things I mentioned. So divagation if it's traffic regulation determined etc. Eh, it's the other way. Traffic regulations are formalized representation of traditional regional customs (or in some countries customs of victors).

Now since such question surfaces I wonder and ask if parents stopped doing it? I'm literally interested if this is something universal or just individual case. NOT offended or disgruntled by it just surprised and intrigued. Did parents stopped passing on such customs, so knowledge of it just died out in some parts of the world. Thus your bewilderment, thus this thread, thus my bewilderment.

Cheers.
I generally don?t dignify senseless, self-righteous (and in this case misfired) internet passive-aggression? and I still won?t.

To clarify more simply: I asked ?WHAT?; that implies there?s something I don?t know. I did not ask ?WHY,? which would imply there?s something I don?t understand; your response would apply to the latter should I or anyone have actually asked it.
You're being pointlessly aggressive. I explained my intentions and reiterated the question. Whole subject has absolutely no potential to be divisive aside someone investing emotions into it, as you clearly went and did. If you are bent on being hostile don't ascribe your own feelings to me please.
Had you not been arrogant you would notice I did not direct my OP at you but wrote my own thought on the subject and expressed thoughts of others pertaining it. Which were surprising to me. Which is why I asked the question, over which you act as you are right now (if you don't realize it traditions and customs die out all the time...).
Despite me making clear, politely, what I mean and why I ask. Twice.

I don't expect an apology but come on, just lay off me already.
I would rather hear a genuine answer to question I asked from others, if you are not interested in answering. However after what you did I will get any :/
 

Chessrook44

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I walk on whichever side gets me through the crowd fastest. Living in NYC has given me a +2 reflex bonus when navigating crowds...
 

Pseudonym

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Depends on how many people there are and in how much of a hurry I am. If there are a lot of people, and I am not in a hurry I tend to stick to the right, usually in tandem with many others doing the same. The same holds for going up and down stairs and for other tight corridors. If there is nobody around or I am in a hurry I just do whatever is fastest within the bounds of not being a total jackass.
 

Bobular

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Normally the side closest to the wall I think. It seems to me walking anywhere else without reason just adds additional thought into moving.

If it is sunny though I'll walk wherever there is shadow to keep out of it, the same inside, I'll stay away from the side where the sun is shining in through windows.