Notes
Okay, so physically this run was fine. I felt good. A little tired, but overall just felt like a normal run. I went slow on purpose: ~8:50 pace. However, after the third mile I saw my grandma on the bike path so I stopped to walk with her for a few minutes. Thus the reason my pace is bad. Either way, still felt good physically, but I definitely couldn't really have ran faster. (8:49, 8:47, 8:52, 10:57 for my splits)
But here is my rant. I've been running on the Charles Street bike path for the past two months. I've ran on the path before--it's not anything new. In the past I have had this issue, but it has never been as prevalent as it has been now. When I pass people, they DO NOT ACKNOWLEDGE ME EVEN THOUGH I SMILE AT THEM. I don't really know what their problem is!! I don't understand!! I am this puny little (white) girl, quite literally the least threatening of all types of people (based solely on when people unfairly judge someone by their appearance). I don't look like a drug addict. I'm not hard on the eyes (at least I don't think I am ??). So seriously, what the actual frick??
What really makes me mad is when the person is walking/running on the wrong side, and I stand my ground, they begrudgingly move over and then walk either in the grass or the GODFORSAKEN ROAD. Like, I'm sorry, but you are more likely to die from being hit by a car than by the coronavirus I am NOT carrying!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! And, they will not acknowledge me after all of that. No "haha sorry to do this it's just corona times" look. Just staring straight ahead! I will still look at them and crack a pained smile (because I am in pain both physically and mentally). Yet they will do nothing!
There is a certain demographic that there is nearly a 100% chance they will not acknowledge me. First of all, if the person has gray hair or appears to be old (i.e. 60+ years old) the chances of acknowledgement fall to 40%. Then, if the old person is of the female gender, it is basically zero. Every old lady I have passed has not acknowledged me unless I literally PEERED into their souls. I probably initiated it too. Old men are more likely to say hello: I'd say a 65% chance of some type of acknowledgement. Young people, especially those 30 +/-5 years old will almost always say hello or acknowledge me: around a 92% chance.
My normal method for encountering people on the path is this:
1) I see them. I mentally prepare for the encounter. I will adjust my course as needed to accommodate them.
2) As I approach them, I look directly at them. This way they know I see them.
3) When they can see my face, I smile very quickly, then look down/away/stop smiling. There's still a good 5-10 seconds of distance between us, and it would just be awkward if I smile for that long. Sometimes I do this, sometimes I don't.
4) Once we have entered that implied "acknowledgement" zone, I look up again and give a better smile. There's still plenty of time for them to process my acknowledgement and react. Yet they do not.
I just do not understand why these ELDERS, people looked up to for their manners, people that we "owe respect to," cannot have the common decency to just NOD at the person passing by on the bike path. They complain about how disrespectful young people are, but really they are the rude ones! I understand the fear of the coronavirus, but someone nodding or waving or smiling will not catch the virus. I takes literally 0.2 seconds to acknowledge me. They don't have to say "hi." JUST ACKNOWLEDGE THE FACT THAT I AM A FELLOW HUMAN BEING WITH FEELINGS THAT IS PASSING BY ON THE BIKE PATH. But nope, apparently that is too hard or something!
I know this is really superficial but it is really infuriating. I'm just trying to be a decent person but these people are plain rude! For example, today, I was about to scream profanities at two different people for being absolutely ridiculous. The first person was this little old lady, completely wrapped up in a bandana and sporting a face mask and sun glasses. She was walking on the wrong side of the path. When she saw I wasn't going to move (I'm sick of being the one to move), she went over to other side. But she didn't stop there. She kept going into the grass and then the STREET! Literally, the gutter of Charles Street! And I stared at her the entire time and smiled when I passed her, but she was just staring straight ahead with no emotion. Once I was behind her, my expression turned sour because I was so mad from that. Then on my way back I passed this older woman who I've passed plenty of times in the past. She's always out power walking--I'm talking mega arm swings, like she's got her arms at 180 degrees at the top of that swing. Well, today, she couldn't go into the road but she walked right into the grass. There was probably six feet in between us, give or take a foot. We were THAT close and yet she refuses to look at me. I'm sorry but that was a straight b*tch move. Like, are you kidding me?? Last time I saw her, I was approaching the light at Mulford, heading east. Someone else was walking up the path. She comes up from behind, out of nowhere, sees that there were people in both lanes of the path, and decides to detour straight into the road. It is INCREDIBLY BUSY right where she chose to walk. Cars are all over the place because she is in the street a whole TEN feet from the intersection. And you can absolutely bet she didn't look at anyone. But you know who did acknowledge me? The random guy who was walking on the path that she also avoided. And he kinda looked like he was 28 and still living in his mom's basement. But he nodded! Also, some old guy was walking his dog on the wrong side of the bike path when I approached him. He moved to the wrong side, and I didn't move because I am not conforming. His little terrier started to go for me so he had to control it, but he didn't really acknowledge me. I'll let it slide, but there have been dog walkers who are still able to smile while their dog is pulling them left and right.
Anyways, both of the occurrences today seriously annoyed me. I don't confront people and I don't swear at strangers, but this was really pushing the envelope today. I wanted to get into a screaming match with these fools!! It was just a last-straw type of scenario: my anger has been building up and today I was really itching to do something about it.
So this has been really pissing me off and if something doesn't change I'm going to blow. Okay, I'm not actually going to do anything, but STILL. It's rude. I don't know why it's bothering me so much, but it is! I've already gone off on three different twenty-minute-long rants with my family. I've even (respectfully) asked my grandparents. NO ONE HAS ANSWERS!! These people are just acting like complete buffoons! So much so that I have decided I am going to start recording the absolute buffoonery in my logs. I'm sure it will be quite funny to read in five years when I no longer am running on the C(rotchety old people)HARLES STREET bike path. End rant.
Oh, and I also did 10 minutes of core.