Bipedal Bumper Cars

Walking in downtown San Francisco is like tackling an obstacle course. There are trucks unloading, delivery people, taxis, construction paraphernalia, trash and various other things to watch out for -- normal fare in any city. Now there's the added obstacle of my fellow walkers.


Thanks to technology we walk with eyes cast downward. We're shuffling our music, tweeting that we literally bumped into someone, checking our e-mail and programming our phones. We bob. We weave. Sometimes it works. Sometimes it doesn't. Oops! Sorry! We're all playing a game of bipedal bumper cars.

I have become a defensive walker. My pivoting techniques put Heidi Klum to shame. I can veer left and right on the proverbial dime.

But sometimes I feel like Clint Eastwood in one of his classic westerns. I see the guy coming towards me completely absorbed by his phone. My course is fixed. Will he look up in time to avoid a collision?

Hey, I walk the same route every day. Ya gotta keep it interesting!