"After all, it seems simple enough to just go around the slow individual."
Trust me, if I'm able to do that, then I do, no questions asked. Unfortunately the other common behaviours of slow walkers include: sudden erratic motion, walking side by side in lines with others, and stopping dead in choke-points.
It Got worse with smartphones too, people seem to respond to read their emails or ply their stupid flying bird game in the most idiotic of places (the subway stairwell comes to mind)
Sometimes i stifle the urge to just push the annoyance down the stairs.
I don't live in too crowded an area so pedestrians can usually be avoided and/or alerted with an, "excuse me" or two. There are enough people, though, who are aggressively inconsiderate that I do occasionally have problems on foot.
What really irks me is that these same people, who feel entitled to monopolize any given thoroughfare, are just as common in motorized vehicles on the highway. The problems there are much worse though. Honking is considered rude and is usually illegal for non-emergency use. There's no such thing as a gentle but assertive shove with that much kinetic energy involved. In the worst case, some self-righteous offenders will intentionally congest traffic if they feel others' driving is 'unsafe'.
Or people who will stand right in the doorway of a train when people are getting on and off, rather than stepping to one side (or even off the train altogether, people will always let them get back on first). These people have made their choice, it's just attention seeking really. However the London commuter is not a shy species...
Or people who will stand on the left, despite clearly being able to see that no-one else is, even if they can't read the clear signs in English. Again it's not rude to push them out of the way; they started it.
I have this theory that in London at rush hour, the space available on a busy train will exactly hold the total number of London commuters that are waiting at the platform. Apart from myself, I've never seen a London commuter not get on a train, however packed it is.
I'm a pavement rager. I'm baffled by slow people with no consideration dawdling through a train station at rush hour. I tried once to patiently amble along behind them, and found out it impossible.
I've learnt with OAPs that if they look like they are slowing down (!), and you have the choice to go around either side, always chose the smallest gap. Almost always they turn like an oil-tanker into the larger gap. That way you can pass by unnoticed.
Couple of things wind me up. A guy reading a Kindle bumbling up a flight of stairs utterly unaware of the holdup he was causing.
Not sure about handbags, they seem to be blunt instruments to be swung at fellow commuters. And always seem to increase in size and violence when their handler is looking away from you.
Also, the number one tip for being bumped into by other people: wear a laptop backpack. I have a feeling there's some sort of super-magnetic quality backpacks have when on my back...
I would find it useful to demarcate walking and standing areas in train station concourses. Although they have a no-standing area in Shepherd's Bush and that doesn't seem to be working. Not sure whether passengers are generally oblivious of their surroundings or have just have their London commuter face on.
And bloody wheeled luggage, I've seen people approach the ticket barrier from the side, and actually block the next turnstile with their bag while they look for their ticket! Kicking's too good for these people.
The only time I approach sidewalk rage is with those side-by-side walkers. Nothing sets me off like a group of 3 people approaching me in the opposite direction on a sidewalk that is exactly wide enough for 3 people to walk side-by-side, and all 3 clearly see me and none of them give me a path to walk by them.
ONE OF YOU JACKASSES IS GOING TO HAVE TO MOVE OR GET WALKED INTO.... IT IS SIMPLE PHYSICS HERE!
ehm... sorry about that. It is one of my few real rager pet peeves.
They assume, consciously or not, that you will change course for their benefit, but you can't change course if you're not moving. Suddenly, you become a stationary object, and they will adjust to that. I've never had people blunder into me when I've done that, and I've sometimes noticed them correct their walking formation afterward.
"After all, it seems simple enough to just go around the slow individual."
Trust me, if I'm able to do that, then I do, no questions asked. Unfortunately the other common behaviours of slow walkers include: sudden erratic motion, walking side by side in lines with others, and stopping dead in choke-points.