I walk funny. Or at least that's what I've been told. It's not exactly like I can watch myself while walking, so I just have to take other people's word for it. If enough people tell me that I have a bit of a strut, then I have a bit of a strut.
Luckily for me, it doesn't come up all that often. Aside from the anecdotes in the linked post, it's not a daily part of my life. About the only thing that comes to mind was that one of the Mild Exes once asked me to do a "pimp limp" version of the walk down the runway. Otherwise, it's just not something I think about. In fact, I'd pretty much forgotten that anyone has ever told me this before.
That changed recently. One day at work, I had to talk to my coworker so I stopped by her desk. We chatted about the issue, and then I wandered off to get some water for myself. Now, I should note that there is a fairly high wall surrounding her cubicle, so as soon as I walked away, she couldn't see me. I don't remember if I told her where I was going or not, but either way, I was simply going somewhere else.
On my way back to my desk, I had to walk past her desk again. As I passed by, she called out to me. I don't remember the exact words she used, but she did call me by name. That would have been all very normal and routine, except for the fact that she couldn't see me when I walked by. Remember, there was a cubicle wall blocking her view. She had no way of visually identifying the person who walked by. So how the heck did she know it was me?
Me being me, I asked her that very question. Her answer was both simple and astounding at the same time, "oh, you have a very distinctive walk. I can tell when you walk by." I was more than a little amazed at this revelation, especially given that the floors aren't made of a hard surface. Whatever sound any of us are making with our footsteps are inherently muted by the floor. Even so, she was able to correctly determine my identity.
I should also note that I am not unique in this regard. There is apparently one other coworker who also has a distinctive gait, so she can identify the two of us simply the sound of our footsteps. I don't know that anyone else has ever pulled off this trick, so maybe this one coworker just has amazing powers of perception and hearing. Either way, though, I was suddenly reminded, very quickly, that I walk differently than most people.
I think I may need to work on my ninja skills.
Luckily for me, it doesn't come up all that often. Aside from the anecdotes in the linked post, it's not a daily part of my life. About the only thing that comes to mind was that one of the Mild Exes once asked me to do a "pimp limp" version of the walk down the runway. Otherwise, it's just not something I think about. In fact, I'd pretty much forgotten that anyone has ever told me this before.
That changed recently. One day at work, I had to talk to my coworker so I stopped by her desk. We chatted about the issue, and then I wandered off to get some water for myself. Now, I should note that there is a fairly high wall surrounding her cubicle, so as soon as I walked away, she couldn't see me. I don't remember if I told her where I was going or not, but either way, I was simply going somewhere else.
On my way back to my desk, I had to walk past her desk again. As I passed by, she called out to me. I don't remember the exact words she used, but she did call me by name. That would have been all very normal and routine, except for the fact that she couldn't see me when I walked by. Remember, there was a cubicle wall blocking her view. She had no way of visually identifying the person who walked by. So how the heck did she know it was me?
Me being me, I asked her that very question. Her answer was both simple and astounding at the same time, "oh, you have a very distinctive walk. I can tell when you walk by." I was more than a little amazed at this revelation, especially given that the floors aren't made of a hard surface. Whatever sound any of us are making with our footsteps are inherently muted by the floor. Even so, she was able to correctly determine my identity.
I should also note that I am not unique in this regard. There is apparently one other coworker who also has a distinctive gait, so she can identify the two of us simply the sound of our footsteps. I don't know that anyone else has ever pulled off this trick, so maybe this one coworker just has amazing powers of perception and hearing. Either way, though, I was suddenly reminded, very quickly, that I walk differently than most people.
I think I may need to work on my ninja skills.
Comments
Post a Comment