mandolino

I must admit I was frustrated today by finding people coming to a stop and blocking every escalator and travelator I went on.

As far as I'm concerned, they're to speed you along, not save you from unwanted exercise. These people seemed totally oblivious.

Why can't they just stand to one side? Or am I just a grumpy impatient old git?
I do have a chronic ankle condition that hurts when I walk but I hate standing still.

What do you prefer? Stand or walk/climb?

pinniped

I had to Google "travelator".

I walk, and it's a total pet peeve of mine when people block the entire thing. Because I realize the customs may differ around the world, I think there should be signs above each escalator or moving walkway: stand on this side, walk on that side.

Maybe on a really long up escalator, I'll stand. I don't necessarily walk the entire way out of a deep London Underground station. But people should know where to stand so that walkers can get by.

Palal

Asked and answered

mandolino

9 years ago. Whole new generation here now (who am I kidding ..)
Not that much. Blocking footpaths, doorways, escalators etc when you could easily move is chronic worldwide.

CPRich

I usually walk/climb, but when I have a rollaboard behind me, I'm always sure to move to one side and put my bag on the step behind me. I even check others ahead/behind me to be sure we line up on the same side, leaving a path.

I realize that I'm in the minority and do wish others would extend the same courtesy. It's just one example of the general me-centric/oblivious-to-the-world outlook I see just about everywhere.

pinniped

True, but people may come from a variety of backgrounds where it's acceptable to do these things. I don't believe all people universally and instinctively know to stand on the right (left?) because people are walking by on the left (right?).

That's why I think it can be helpful to post signs, especially in a situation where the users may be from around the world. Granted, I'm thinking mainly of airports and other transport hubs here: places with a potentially international user base and places where the operator of the facility would indeed agree that there is a benefit to many people to walk instead of stand. I honestly don't care if my local mall posts the signs...the teenagers will ignore them and just stand there while they text anyway....

Can't hurt, right?

Redhead

I love that the London Underground actually has signs and annoucements to stand on one side and that the other is for walking.

People blocking the whole thing is a pet peeve too. I will often skip the moving walkway since I can get past faster if people are blocking it

brendog

Walk left. Stand right. If you do not move after a sharp "excuse me", I will brusquely move you out of my way. The same goes for folks who find it necessary to walk slowly two or more abreast on sidewalks/pavements.

yknot

bad knees - I stand (to the right)

Dodge DeBoulet

Wirelessly posted (BlackBerry 8703e: Mozilla/5.0 (iPad; CPU OS 7_0_4 like Mac OS X) AppleWebKit/537.51.1 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/7.0 Mobile/11B554a Safari/9537.53)

It's been a while since I was in the UK, but is that expected there as well (by other UK residents, anyway; we know what us 'merkins expect )

rebr

+1 although I don't brusquely move people out of my, but rather say "excuse me" even harder, and eventually also push myself through.

JerryFF

We do have an angry society, don't we? If this is truly the worst problem you encounter when traveling, you are a lot luckier than I am.

Letitride3c

That's the "proper" American stance to assume at home

As global travelers, depending on the countries you are landing on next & local custom, you might be doing the opposite instead - stand to the left, walk & pass on the right. When unsure, look for & watch the locals - follow them.

Not all escalators/travelators are designed for those of us with oversized spinners or rollers doing the 100 yards dash for that final boarding call that we sometimes must tried to make at various airports or terminals. While standing still for that 30 seconds, it's often enough time for me to quickly scan my smartphone for SMS & email alerts and flight updates, etc. - can't really do that while walking ...

If we aren't running down the clock, we stand & let foot traffic pass - if we are in a hurry, then we kick in the afterburner and walk - inside airport's people's mover walkway - ORD - it's often "faster" to not use them & just speed thru around it.

It's common sense & matter of courtesy, and not against the laws or administrative regulations, annoying as they often are.

jcwoman

I usually walk on moving walkways, unless I'm with someone who stops then I will also but stand in front or behind them.

But I do have an issue with escalators. Bad knees (ankles, and back) here too, so I find escalators to be very awkward to walk on. The steps are a bit higher and wider than standard stairs. So I usually just stand on an escalator unless I'm feeling especially spry that day.

Oh, and escalators are the only situation where my left-handedness is a problem. I always carry things (purses, bags, laptop) on my right shoulder, and prefer to grab hand rails with my left hand. So I usually grab the left rail and then have to remind myself (or my harpy husband (LOL) reminds me a half second before I remind myself) to move over to the right.

zcat18

Walkalators (or whatever we're calling them these days...travelators?) and the ability to stand still on them are great for those with injuries, disabilities, and the elderly or otherwise infirm. However, as an able-bodied person, I can think of few more torturous everyday experiences than having to stand still on one of those things. It's like Chinese water torture.