Some People Dont Move While Others Pass in Hallways

Im not sure if this is the right forum, but I thought this was the best but feel free to move.

I just really want to get one thing off of my chest. I dont know if this is some new thing that people are doing nowdays or if its just a lack of respect for others.

Anyways, today was the first day of this semester in college for me. Before class, we all stand outside the door to the classroom with other people, waiting for the class before ours to end. And yes, we make sure we are basically right on the wall, without having out legs out in the middle of the hallway or anything. The hallways in my school are pretty wide - I would guess maybe 12 feet wide, give or take a few feet.

Anyways, classes started to get out, and the traffic in the halls started to pick up. There was this group of students, walking besides eachother talking, 4 of them, without moving for the people coming the opposite way. Some people passing them had to turn their bodies just to squeeze through the tiny opening they barley left open. When someone bumped into one of them, the group of 4 got pissed and said "Watch where your going fool."

I just want to yell at them and say, "Move the ********* outta the way! You dont have to stand next to eachother the whole time, move for the other people!!!!!!" This just really gets on my nerves since its so damn easy to just move a few inches to let another human pass.

Is this some new thing or something? I dont get it. Is there some new "ego" that says - dont move for others in the hall anymore??? I just had to get this off my chest.

I haven't been to college in about 8 years, but from what I know, things haven't changed. You've never seen stuff like this? Its just disregard for people around them. Ever been standing behind someone at a counter, waiting for them to pay for their stuff and leave, only for them to take their time, or maybe engage in conversation? Trust me these people are so ignorant they don't even have a clue what's going on around them. My advice? Stay away from them, might cause an accident or worse...death.

reply to post by The Endtime Warrior


Ive never really experienced this in my earlier school years, but I have had those people that take forever at the counter taking forever, blabbing on and on and the cashier just sits and nods, but the person keeps blabbing, holding up the line.

Ive just never really been around people that will just walk right over someone, and then say it was the person that got runovers fault. Its like some people have just gotten so dumb, they dont see anyone else around them other than their friends. I just want to see a huge person run right thru their line.

reply to post by buni11687


Well I'm not sure where you are from, but it sounds like you may not have lived by an urban area, as I did. Really its just a sign of the times, with each generation the tolerance of each others dwindles and dwindles a little more. I do my best to teach my son otherwise, but it will be a challenge, no doubt.

I notice this walking down the sidewalk. A "gang" of friends will walk side by side, even if that means walking out into the street. When you walk by, all you can do is go around them. When you're driving by, you have to drive around them. It all comes down to a lack of respect for others. And I call these people a gang because this is what gangsters do. They walk side by side to look tough. They respect no one but themselves. This is the world we live in. Nice, isn't it?

reply to post by The Endtime Warrior


I do think it is something with dwindling respect for others in the younger generation (not all, just a few). I would guess the kids were 17-20, but im only a few years older. Almost every older person that moved out the way for somebody else passing by them at the school today, said politely, "Excuse me." Some of the younger students said the same thing, politely also.

Its just one of those things I want to vent about. This new "Im too cool for you" attitude younger people are doing is getting worse and worse with our younger generations (again, not all are like that). But that is just my personal opinion.

If I brought this subject up in one of my classes, Im sure there would be a select few that would be crackin jokes and spewing some gangster/hood attitude.

Edit - The new attitude thing I was talking about - I dont know if its new, or maybe Im just now noticing it more frequently.

[edit on 24-8-2010 by buni11687]

reply to post by buni11687


Simple solution: Slow down a bit and force them to move around you. It has never failed for me since I'll slow down to a complete stop and have actually just stood there in the middle of the hall a couple times, so if they touch me there is no question that is their fault. And they rarely miss my eye-roll.

If it bothered me a whole lot I'd add in a sarcastic comment like:
"We'll magically go through each other... just keep going!"
"Everyone move out of the way so that group can take up the whole hallway!"
Since that is my style. You can't bottle that stuff up or you could go postal at some point.

Usually college students don't do this on purpose, but rather because they have never learned manners. Now if you're in a ghetto or something... then you might want to figure its because they are looking for trouble, but of course you can never assume and should give the benefit of the doubt. If you are like me you are a fast runner and if they fight you simply take flight

reply to post by buni11687


Well Buni all you can do is ignore them, and hold your head up high. Keep your eye on the prize, focus on your studies. Moments like these wont matter in the future.

Though this is most often the wrong way to deal with it...... If you are about to encounter a group such as that, then go into a tough alpha personality. Walk through the group with a purpose and your shoulders up but ready for contact. Don't forget, though that will work in a school, it probably won't work in the hood.

Been to the mall lately? It's worse!

I think it's more then just A lack of respect, people are getting edgy and aggressive. I have even had to stop myself from following as it's this negative force pulling us.


Then again I'm 6'3 and 225 lbs and I probably just wouldn't move for them. Deffinitly a sign of how the world is today.

Don't worry my friend, people tend to be as successful as the goals they set for themselves, as in what they focus on. If these charachters focus on being the kings of the hall way, I'm sure they'll be sweeping it one day.

reply to post by buni11687


As soon as I've posted, I'll be Starring and Flagging

and at moments like this, I wish we were empowered to deliver 'Super Flags' and 'Super Stars', perhaps in a gold colour, to denote topics we deem particularly excellent

This is happening more and more frequently where I live -- on footpaths rather than in schools, although the same principle is in action in both ... and more, venues

Schoolchildren on their way home from school, walking say, three abreast, down the footpath -- ordinary suburban footpath

Approaching them might be an elderly resident walking slowly and with difficulty up the hill

The children expect -- expect -- the elderly resident or whomever to step off the footpath and onto the grass nature-strip

How long ago was it that children deferred to their elders ... were taught to do so and told the reasons why ? Was it only a decade ago ? I can't remember

Whatever the case, it's become the 'silent war', whereby people who know they're within their rights to occupy a certain wideth of footpath or sidewalk -- are having to steel themselves in order to confront what is actually a new (as far as I'm aware) form of bullying, of gang rule. And they're confronted by a new-breed. A ruthlessly self-important breed. A 'get out of our way NOW ' breed

I stand my ground. Have discussed it with others who've also witnessed this new (as far as I'm aware) phenomenon of self-important, silent thuggery. So we stand our ground. Sometime, it means doing just that --- standing motionless. That way, the thugs have the choice of walking INTO us -- or deviating in their all-important progress ... and going around us.

It's by far the young who've adopted the 'gang ownership' policy. And migrants. The Asians in the city here are great practitioners of the passive-agressive 'move aside ' game. They meander along the city streets -- crowded city streets -- at four or more abreast. They pretend to be SO engrossed in their discussion that they 'just didn't see' those trying to walk in the opposite direction, or to get past them

And ever polite, ever averse to a scene, you see members of the host population trying to squeeze past, or even going onto the road in order to get past.

I don't. I stand stock still. Their choice. Go through me or go around me. To date, with ill grace, they've broken formation and gone around me

It's an ignorant, hostile practice and as long as I'm alive and on two feet, I'll be making MY policy clear in the same silent way as they

Although on occasion, I have said very clearly and in deliberately neutral tone, ' Excuse me, I'd like to pass'. They jump like scalded cats. They're all bluff. They're trying it on to see what they can get away with. And it's detrimental to society to encourage them. They need to be discouraged and humiliated into the bargain if possible -- humiliation being the most acutely painful of all learning experiences

I do the same now with queue-jumpers. Again, I encounter this latter problem more frequently with the young. Often they're high-school students. Maybe these days, teachers aren't allowed to say anything to them which might 'offend' them, who knows. But out here, it's the real world, not the schoolyard where teachers bite down hard and cater to ignorance in order to keep their job and safeguard their mortgage. And in the real world, queue jumping is a red-flag with most. And why not ? If standing in a queue were no big deal -- then queue jumpers wouldn't exist. Instead, they'd be waiting patiently in line like everyone else

When I was younger and more forgiving, more tolerant, I allowed people to queue-jump, saying to myself, 'Let it go. It matters to them to be able to push in and shove others aside. Something in them needs to do that. Just be thankful you don't think as they do'. But these days, I say, quite loudly (no more whispering politely for me on such occasions) ' Excuse me, but I was next I believe'. Again, you see the red-faced, scalded-cat response. They just don't expect it. They don't expect to be called on it. And the fact they back off shows that they knew, all along, what they were doing. They just didn't expect anyone to 'dare' say anything. So once again, it amounts to Ignorance trying to bluff its way through

Of course, for the OP, many of the methods I employ aren't practical in his situation. But the standing-still method might be something you could try, OP. As long as you maintain a neutral expression, or pretend to be checking your watch or something.

And I suppose it would be more dangerous for a male than for a female. Thugs are more inclined to punch or shoulder a male than a female. This is where life is harder on men than on women. I see a lot of posts advising males not to make eye-contact in many situations

reply to post by buni11687


This is what I love to do but it doesn't work if you encounter a standing group. If I go to the Mall and I have some punks walking toward me and I know they're going to force me to walk around them. I just look off to my right like I was window shopping while still walking straight at them and "walla", they always move aside. Another thing I've done but I have to be in the right frame of mind to have the nerve to do it and I did this to some big fat bitch that wouldn't move and insisted on running me over. I followed her until she stopped to peer in a store window and stood next to her and cut a nasty loud fart, she looks at me with disgust and I just simply gave her a puzzled look like "What"...lol
Next time that group is standing in the way just slow down and rip one off, after all it's a biological function and you're there for an education and not to win a popularity contest...lol

reply to post by buni11687


Why not just confront them about it?

Just speak loudly pointing them out to everyone in the hallway like an earlier poster said. I've done it with out hesitation, "Hey everyone look at these guys walking 4 wide. Mommy and Daddy didn't give them enough attention as children. Grow up tards." Bellowing that out as loud as I can while making eye contact with others in the hallways just causes the crowd to laugh at them. And that is so much more satisfying than a physical confrontation or just bowing your head and taking it.

Oddly enough, where i live, I experience this type of behavior from people at the local large chain stores. They meander about, cutting me off, or walking out in front of me.

Not to mention how they drive on the road. eeek!

I will avoid a broadside event of having someone run into me or run into them as they shoot out of an isle. I, however, will not alter my course for someone who wanders or veers into my line or path. I'm a short, and stalky fellow. I also have no peripheral vision, at all, like wearing blinders. so often times, I get run into a bit.

Sadly I notice this behavior from people well into their 30's and 40's.. the kids too.

All above is exception to 1 rule, I will alter my course for someone my elder, and especially for Disabled/handicapped people. I will hold doors, and such as well for said group.

Respect seems to have been lost a decade or two ago, same with honor and morals, and personal responsibility.

A sad, delusional world we live in, Folks.

Patience and peace,

This is the way literally everyone behaves here in Finland (yes, the same that was the best place in the world according to Newsweek) and they have since the mid-90s. Now, in a country with a population just over 5million and the entire capital region boasting nearly a fifth of that, and with migration to the capital region having happened only within the last generation or so, you would think that they would still have some semblence of kindness and country hospitality in them somewhere. But no. None whatsoever. This isn't even a real city! It's not urban!

The fact of the matter is that people learn this behavior from TV shows. Finns love American TV and emulate the behaviors and fashions, whatever they might be, indescriminately. No, they have no better sense than that.

So there you have it. Turn off the lame TV shows and maybe people will revert back to behaving like civilized human beings instead of TV studio j*rk-*ffs.

I experienced this in high school in the 80s. It's basically a group mentality and show of dominance. I learned to deal with it by either just walking through them or stopping in the middle of the hall to tie my shoes. Even now I come across this on the sidewalks and aisles at stores. Why do people insist on putting their shopping cart on the left of the aisle whilst they shop on the right?
I even come across this on the residential streets around the house where some guy in an Escalade or something straddles the center line. I simply steer my 4Runner towards the center but don't cross the line; if it doesn't look like they'll move over I'm ready to stab the brakes to leave some skid marks, just in case, so there's proof I was on my side. I figure that even though they're bigger, my lift kit will put my bumper square into their headlight. I've had a couple clip my mirror but fortunately nothing worse.

Ah yes - the Territorial Imperative.

I remember those kids. The groups I went to school with also were quite adept at all manner of psychological bullying.

I suppose it's their own perceived "superiority" and anyone who doesn't move out of their way gives them yet another opportunity to ridicule and assert their "social dominancy".

I always enjoyed walking up in the middle of them and just stopping, standing stock still, and smiling like an idiot at them when they tell me to move.

They can become quite befuddled by it, and it almost always throws them off.

That's odd. Back in the day at high school and university people in in lobbies or even large hallways give way to both sides resulting in a humorous exchange (e.g. I move to the right while the person moving towards me moves to his right at the same time) that happens 3x in that short span of time until someone does not give way.

Once I tried looking from a distance on how people do this simultaneous "give-way", and noticed that both people (or even a gang) don't even look at each other and gives way almost simultaneously. It's like it's a form of good-natured instinct.

It's sad to hear that the contrary is happening nowadays.