Walking away from happiness?


If you have read some of the other posts hereabouts, then you will know that we enjoy  walking.  While the fresh air, scenery and exercise are the good parts of this, there are things and people that you will come across on any path that are downright stupid or just plain annoying.  A few of my pet hates are below in no particular order.  By the end of this, you should be able to picture me in full grumpy old man mode, red faced and fuming.

  1.  Dog walkers who don’t pick up after their pets.  I’d rather be free to look at the scenery when walking rather than constantly watching where I’m placing my next step like I’m in some sort of minefield.  This problem seems to escalate during the dark days of winter.  The path is less well used at that time of year, hinting that there must be some owners who only pick up when they think someone else is watching.  Thanks assholes!
    A related problem are the dog owners who pick up, but then immediately drop the bag. I have seen bags dropped like this 20 feet from a bin!  Really?  Someone was out for a walk, but decided that the extra 20 feet to carry a poo bag to a bin would have spoiled their day?  It makes no sense; why go to a beautiful place and then spoil it with this crap (literally)?
  2. It is not unusual to find off road paths with some narrow sections.  When Trish and I are out walking in places like this, and people are coming the other way it is natural for us to go single file to make space for them.  We were both brought up this way.  Yet, these simple manners seem to be becoming increasingly rare.  Couples or groups plough past continuing their conversations like we do not even exist, frequently almost forcing us off the path altogether.  It doesn’t take much to at least acknowledge the presence of others, especially when they do the decent thing and make room for you.  Walking on past in dull incomprehension after forcing someone else to stop to get out of your way is just plain arrogant.
  3. Having said that I dislike people who litter, I also have a complaint against our local council for not providing enough accessible bins on the costal path.  There is one access point to the path in Bangor town where there are three litter bins within about 30 feet, yet there are sections of the path where walkers would either have to turn back or carry their litter for around 3 miles before finding a bin.  There are access paths on the section I am thinking of so the council has no real excuse for not providing bins.  If you want people not to litter, the council could at least make it easier to dispose of the stuff.

There, that’s better.  I can feel my blood pressure going down even as I finish writing this.  ;-)

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