Walking on speed bumps
Stephen Moss
Issue date: 2/3/10 Section: Opinion
I was walking out of my church fellowship hall one morning over Jan Term, crossing the pavement to my parked car. The parking lot has these black-and-yellow striped speed bumps bolted into the asphalt, and I soon found myself doing a balancing act along one of them, putting one foot in front of the other. It wasn't until I reached the end of the speed bump that I stopped to think, "now why did I just do that?"
I tend to have these spontaneous "mini-adventures" quite often. I guess walking on the curb's edge or on the landscaping bricks, pretending there are hungry lions in the street or snakes in the flower beds, is more fun than just walking. Why take each step on a flight of stairs when I can challenge myself to take three at a time? It's not conscious - it just happens.
However, I soon start reflecting on the fact that you really don't see many adults doing things like this in public. Here I am, a senior in college, preferring the adventure of walking on curbs to the dull pragmatism of just walking down the sidewalk. (Of course, Samford sidewalks do have their own perils to worry about…)
Does this mean I'm still in my childhood? Will there be a morning that I wake up and all of a sudden prefer the boring route instead of the exciting one? Maybe it's not so much a matter of preference as much as learning the self-control to adapt my behavior to society's standards of pedestrianism.
But when will this switchover happen? Will it happen? If that's what it means to be an adult, do I even want it to happen?
So what if I want to walk on the curb, keeping my balance as if stepping off would mean certain death, instead of trudging along the weathered thoroughfare like mindless cattle? Does this make me childish? Does it make me less of an adult?
Maybe someday I will outgrow this urge. Maybe someday I really will prefer to take the interstate instead of the more interesting backroads. Maybe someday I really will prefer to just take one step at a time instead of challenging myself to take more, even if others are watching.
I tend to have these spontaneous "mini-adventures" quite often. I guess walking on the curb's edge or on the landscaping bricks, pretending there are hungry lions in the street or snakes in the flower beds, is more fun than just walking. Why take each step on a flight of stairs when I can challenge myself to take three at a time? It's not conscious - it just happens.
However, I soon start reflecting on the fact that you really don't see many adults doing things like this in public. Here I am, a senior in college, preferring the adventure of walking on curbs to the dull pragmatism of just walking down the sidewalk. (Of course, Samford sidewalks do have their own perils to worry about…)
Does this mean I'm still in my childhood? Will there be a morning that I wake up and all of a sudden prefer the boring route instead of the exciting one? Maybe it's not so much a matter of preference as much as learning the self-control to adapt my behavior to society's standards of pedestrianism.
But when will this switchover happen? Will it happen? If that's what it means to be an adult, do I even want it to happen?
So what if I want to walk on the curb, keeping my balance as if stepping off would mean certain death, instead of trudging along the weathered thoroughfare like mindless cattle? Does this make me childish? Does it make me less of an adult?
Maybe someday I will outgrow this urge. Maybe someday I really will prefer to take the interstate instead of the more interesting backroads. Maybe someday I really will prefer to just take one step at a time instead of challenging myself to take more, even if others are watching.
Be the first to comment on this story