Whatever happened to the idea of people doing a bit of walking? I remember an ad campaign when I was a kid promoting walking and we should all 'walk a block' each day.The thing that drives me absolutely crazy are the people who park at the curb in front of the supermarket so that they don't have to walk that extra 50 feet or so to their vehicles. They sort of ignore the 'No Parking' signs and the marked yellow crosswalk so that people pushing their carts out of the store have to run a gauntlet of vehicles. The parking issue becomes even more challenging with a couple inches of snow on the ground as even more cars are parked in the way and the carts are harder to push through the slush. This is not unique to the grocery store. The same can be found at the liquor store (next door to the grocery), in front of the banks and other locations about town.
I was picking up my son this afternoon in Bay Roberts, a small community about an hour drive from here and about 45 minutes from my parents, where he had been for a couple of days during a school break. The Tim Horton's donut shop (got them in your area yet? A chain started by, of course, a long deceased hockey player) has a drive through and the line was over 20 cars long. Using my advanced math skills, at a good pace they will serve one in 45 seconds therefore the last guy will take at least 15 minutes to get to the front. There was parking in front of the building, wouldn't it be faster to park, walk in, get your coffee and dognut and leave? The laziness that people demonstrate never ceases to amaze me and I bet that it's a global phenomenon (at least to the fat and lazy western world).
I'm not the most athletic guy, but I do appreciate the cardio benefits of a bit of walking. We have a 4 level split house, so the regular hiking of stairs helps a bit (until I fall one day and break a hip bone).
My sister sent me another video that shows how Stockholm is doing their bit to encourage people to get a bit of exercise by ignoring the escalator and using the stairs. I think that this is a great commercial, you have to look past the VW advertising, and demonstrates that a bit of imagination can make exercising fun and perhaps we can all get just a tiny bit healthier...my rant is now over. Get yourself a big old Boston Cream, or Danish, or whatever and watch the attached clip.
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11 comments:
It never ceased to amaze me how many students complained about not enough parking stalls during my university days. There were always open stalls, you just had to walk to get to them. Um, c'mon people.
That picture is astounding!
I love your typo of 'dognut'. Please don't change it. I think it was a freudian slip. ;)
I've seen (and known) people who cruise up and down the parking lot for ten minutes, looking for that spot closer to the store. By the time one finally opens for them, I've parked and already walked inside.
I don't mind walking to my car. Escalators, however, remain as much a delight as they were in childhood : )
The woman in that picture is going to get a bad back, she's all hunched over. As we don't have a car, I get in plenty of walking.
Oh, you speak the truth. Our neighbour routinely takes her car to the store and the end of the street. You could spit at it from here and hit it.
Walking is one of life's simple pleasures. It's the best way to kick start a sluggish imagination too.
ETA: my security word to post this was STROLL. :D
Aaron- the students of today with bill the bank, liquor store and grocery patrons of tomorrow (for the record, I took the bus to college).
Laura- Glad you liked the dognut, it was intentional. The sad humour probably came from working in my mother's doughnut shop when I was a student.
Jameson- Yeah, I can't understand that logic.
Natalie- I especially like the flat escalator you get at the airport that propells you along at 'superhuman speed'.
Cate- We have cut back to one car. I love walking to work (just ignore the fact that I work in a room in my house).
Laurita- I think that you're right about the walking and stirring the imagination. This is why I have a notepad and pen in my pocket to use when out walking. That's funny how the password teases us like that.
People are PAINFULLY lazy. It hurts my soul a little to see people driving around trying to find the closest spots on BEAUTIFUL days when there are plenty just a little further out :/
Also, are you trying to imply there is such a thing as a Canadian town WITHOUT a Tim Hortons? I'm shocked to my core, sir.
That picture has disaster written all over it.
No one will ever accuse me of being an athlete, but at least I'm not parading around on one of those infernal Zegways (sp.). That' the height of comedy and tragedy, right there.
Katey- Sadly, I think that it's an evolutionary thing we can't avoid. That's when Darwin's "survival of the fittest" kicks in...
Danielle- You're right, I picture her falling over onto the kid.
Rabid- More tragedy than comedy (I think). I think that the hills on The Rock will stop them from spreading here!
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