Rant: The Struggles of a Fast Walker

When I travel from place to place at school, I like to walk at quite a rapid pace. Not so fast that I start a light jog, but fast enough to where I almost glide along the floor. The reasons why I walk this fast is because I am usually late for class or have limited time to get from one class to another. Normally I get to my destination with ease, but there are other times where I encounter obstacles along the way. The one obstacle of getting to class that I absolutely cannot stand is individuals who walk very slowly. I understand that they may be walking slowly because they are not pressed for time or are just naturally slow walkers, but it is quite inconsiderate of them to waste other people’s time when they have places to go and people to see. There are many different styles of slow walking that I have encountered and they all frustrate me.

The worst one is when an individual is on their phone or daydreaming in front of you in a busy hallway. You try to go around them but the sheer volume in the hallway limits your ability to do so. Then once you find an opening and start to make your move, the slow walker moves right in front of you, inhibiting you from going any further. After another couple unsuccessful attempts, you are forced to give up and remain stuck behind them for the remainder of the journey to your destination.

Another slow walker style I like to call the ‘span’. This formation usually includes 3 to 5 individuals who are all friends with each other and are trying to maintain a conversation while walking down the hallway. To do this, they create a horizontal line across the span of the hallway, creating a barrier where no one is able to pass. With no way to get around this blockade, groups of people tend to get stuck behind them and are unable to move until the group disperses or the hallway becomes even wider. Then it becomes a mad rush to get to your class as fast as possible.

Yesterday, I came across another type of slow walker. This person was proceeding at a snail’s pace and I was quickly catching up to them. I was working on passing them when all of a sudden they came to a complete stop in the middle of the hallway and turned around to go back in their previous direction. This abrupt movement caught me off guard and I was forced to awkwardly jump out of the way to avoid running into them.

Slow walkers do not have any awareness of what is around them. They only worry about themselves and don’t consider the fact that other people have much more important things to do than waste their time stuck behind a slow walker. Therefore, I think that slow walkers should have their own section of the hallway to walk in (like a slow lane for cars) or they should just be more considerate of others and move out of the way if they see a fast walker stuck behind them.

This is Halloween, this is Halloween.

It was a dark and foggy Halloween night, the pavement still wet from the recent rain. The aura of ghosts from a previous time could be felt coming from the Haunted Mansion cemetery ready for a ghoulish time. All areas of the supernatural world from vampires to witches lined the streets to participate in this eerie holiday. It had completely transformed from what it had been during the day. This place, once "The Happiest Place on Earth", was no longer. All of the characters had been transformed into their alter selves and the Sleeping Beauty Castle was a large shadow being cast over the square.

The thing that was the scariest (greatest) of all was that people of all ages could participate in the festivities. The young, the old, could all dress up and get candy from different locations around the park, no questions asked, and no weird looks given. Everyone was free to be themselves on the night of All Hallows Eve. We had been walking for some time when we found the area where you could meet the Pumpkin King himself, Jack Skellington. Jack Skellington is renowned for his scaring skills for he has been able to scare even the bravest of men. I had been waiting for this day for a long time. I wanted to talk to the legend himself and question him about his special tricks of the trade so that I too could be the scariest in my town.

We got in line to meet him and listened to the 'This is Halloween' song (one of my favourite songs) multiple times while we waited. Then the moment came when I could finally meet him. I walked up to him and he proclaimed, "Happy Halloween!" with a wide grin. His tall frame staggered over me and his black and white striped suit was as crinkled as ever. I then proceeded to ask him about his screaming technique which he demonstrated to me. Baring his teeth, he opened his mouth wide and let out a loud howl. I applauded him for a job well done and asked him where his dog Zero was. He told me that he was busy playing with the other ghost animals as Zero was only able to see them each Halloween. I then wished him a "Happy Halloween" to which he replied "Have a very haunted night" and waved goodbye. The day I met one of my favourite characters is one I will never forget.

The Beginning

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