On the Sidewalk

Paula poses by a wall in Cochi. Not that she didn't have anything better to do- we asked her to stand there!

I was walking down the road in Cochi, Kerala India. It is a fine city, much more developed than others in India. This fact is made apparent by the existence of (albeit imperfect) sidewalks. Unlike in America or other developed countries, the sidewalks are not always ideal- occasionally there is a missing section or an inopportunely placed pole blocking a quarter of the path and so forth. But much of it is of good quality.

What I noticed was this: when I was walking on the smooth part, people filled to occupy the whole space and even though my longer legs afford me greater seed than most Indians, I was blocked up in the flow of people occupying the paved expanse. There was no way to get a head, really in this situation. Now, when an obstacle came in the path, most people naturally deviated around it causing congestion and a general slowing. Whenever I saw this, I noticed that there was an opportunity to move ahead of a number of people and did so by stepping over or around the small obstacles. Soon, I decided to look for these obstacles in the road with anticipation for the opportunity it would bring me.

How could I apply this to regular life? It is easier to look down a road with good vision of the ‘future’ than time. Even so, could it be possible to learn to better recognize and even seek out these obstacles? Would this be a valuable metaphor?