Oh, where do I begin with pet peeves? Ranting about them is just so fun. Then when you are done and cooled off you friend who was supposed to be listening asks, "what were you saying?" There is even something in the name that bugs me. I have a particular dislike for the word "peeves." It's a word that makes me go"ehrm" (this vocalization is coupled with a facial contortion, the kind that would make your parents warn you of your face staying that way if you made it too much). However, that is not what I am most concerned about. Not that you would know, but I wrote one of my first power writing proposal on people who walk slowly in the hallways. I provided an unconventional method of preventing he offense. The device that I developed resembled a shock collar, and would give dawdling students encouragement to move faster. I can assure you that I thought the whole thing through completely and there could be no possible imperfections in the system. Here I am not trying to provide another solution, but attempting to give reason to dislike of said action.
I have always walked fast. My dad is rather tall, and walks quickly. I learned to keep up with him and remember at times having to almost run to keep up. I was conditioned for this when I was in elementary school. I then put it into practice upon reaching middle school. I then needed to walk between classes and my locker. It was only natural for me to do so quickly. Now my fast tempo has me looking back at complaining companions as they fall behind.
The high school is a large place, with wide hallways and breezeways. But, has are a lot of students as one of the largest schools in the state. I often find myself stuck behind a long line of travelers making the trek between classes, or blocked by the mobs that congregate throughout the school. These seem to serve no purpose but to annoy me. On the stairs, in the hallways, outside of rooms, people are ever-present during passing time. When I am walking unhindered I like to set a pace, and then keep that pace while slowing my tempo and lengthening my stride. It sounds like a weird thing to think about while walking, but I have some compulsions like this. It is angering when my tempo and pace are disrupted by the traffic of school. I will come up on some people who are going considerably slower than I had been. If I were to simply slow down my tempo, I would be taking long and very slow strides, and that just wouldn't do. I then shorten my strides, but increase tempo to stay at the same pace. Essentially I am taking choppy steps while trying not to trip over the heels of the people in front of me. It feels wrong and is rather upsetting to walk that way. I then proceed to grumble under my breath until I can go around them or go a different direction.
I do not have a really good reason for why slow walkers get on my nerves. They are inconvenient as I, and others like me try to navigate the hallways. In the end we are all going to class, but some take dandy time. These uncomfortably short choppy steps that I take, have developed into a dislike of the people who cause them. It is a rather petty thing to become upset over, as is the nature of most pet peeves. Their lack of urgency seems to make their business less important than my own. My arrival at my destination at a specific time should not be impeded on by those who travel at such a glacial pace. Maybe I need to just relax and travel the hallways at a more leisurely pace. It is possible that others are traveling at a normal speed and I am just in ludicrous speed. However, thinking like this is hard and annoying. It is much easier to blame others for my problems and continue to mutter under my breath as I walk slowly behind.
