2004-08-18 - 3:07 p.m.

the first (or was it second?) rule of Polite Sidewalk Walking is to move to the left or right if someone happens to be walking in the opposite direction right in front of you.

but that rule was grossly violated today by a young man who chose to move directly into MY self-designated sidewalk space. i looked behind me and didn't see any bikers or other pedestrians so i chalked it up to inattention on his part and demurely stepped aside.

then! and then! once again he moved directly in front of me. a deliberately hostile move.

(i hate sidewalk bullies. they think they're so cooool with their waaalking and their feet going all up and down in vectors and other such things.)

i'm not one to move twice, so i stayed my course. we were getting pretty close to each other at this point, so i attempted to think of things to say if we bumped right into each other but all i could think of was that Dr. Seuss story about the Zaxes that wouldn't move.

when we were about 5 feet apart, he quickly veered to my right.

so I AM THE BIG WINNER(!) OVERLORD OF ALL SIDEWALK.