Walk On Part 2: Your Guide to Pedestrian Awkward Moments

As a person who walks everywhere, I've experience some awkward moments with my fellow pedestrians. Finding your walking style is like finding your identity. It took me years to perfect the crazed, "I'm-walking-like-I'm-going-to-be-late-even-though-I'm-obscenely-early" look, so it's not always the best of times to zigzag between the sloth walkers. Throughout my traipses across campus, I've also encountered several awkward moments that make me wonder if I should invest in a car, or maybe even a bus pass:

1) The person you're about to catch up with.
So I'm walking to class, doo doo dee doo, and I'm clear of all bodies around me. But then, out of nowhere, BAM! There's someone right in front of me, listening to his ipod, or whatever it is normal people do these days. He's jamming along to some Eminem or whatever, and there I am, in my koala hat, feeling terribly awkward. I am faced with the pressing question: do I lag behind and pretend I'm a sloth walker, or do I act like some Olympian runner and sprint ahead of him? If I lag behind, I'm a stalker. If I run ahead, I'm an anti-social prick who can't stand to be around people for more than two questions. But walking at the same speed is simply not an option. That would imply I'm other desperate for friends, or I'm just really creepy. Solution? Pretend you need to cross the street because East Halls is right across from you and obviously every sane person just has to get to East Halls, amirite?

 2) The door-holder.
I'm glad chivalry isn't dead at PSU, but it can be a bit of a tricky situation. If there's a huge distance between me and the next person, I'm not going to assume the guy in front of me is a total dick for shutting the door. And yet. They hold the door open and then assess the situation. If it looks like I'm just mozying about, not really caring to get to the door anytime soon, they'll shut the door. If I see their generous act, I suddenly feel like I must do this:

...Even though I'm still 20 minutes early to class and I'm inconveniencing the person in front of me by making him wait a million seconds.

Is it just me, or do guys on campus sometimes seem to prove their screwability by the length of time they hold a door open?
Just a thought.

What's REALLY awkward though, is when you decide to go for it and sprint to the door. Then you realize you're like, a billion feet away from the door, and this guy is crazy for waiting for you. So you take a deep breath and slow down. You're perfectly capable of opening your own doors, thank you very much. But then you reconsider the situation. This person's just being courteous; would it kill you to respond? So you speed back up, nice and armed with a simple "thank you" and smile. By this point, however, you've failed to notice that the person in front of you observed your lack of enthusiasm towards the door-holders of the world, and slammed the door in front of your face. Win.

What are some of your pedestrian awkward moments?

Happy Thursday!
Namaste.