Walk the Walk.

You will anyway.

Walk the Walk.

I walked across a college campus, just after twelve noon. The place was literally packed with students, interspersed with faculty, staff, administrators and visitors. I'm one of those people who notices things, and this trip, I really took notice of how people walk.

Usually we have things on our minds, and of course, every mind is occupied with something different. Classes, administrative issues, what we're thinking about having for lunch, where our next meal is coming from, significant others, family, sports, the future, the past, work, a paper that's due but isn't started, lessons learned, what we're gonna do about Alice. Whoever that is. Personally I don't know anybody by that name, but you get the idea.

The thing I really noticed today was that every person walks differently, and each walk is really indicative of that person's frame of mind, at very least. A short, very attractive young woman with her head back slightly and her eyes half-closed, walking easily and airily past. A well-built young man with a startling face - if a human being could look any more like a Marine, I don't know who it would be. One eyebrow slightly up, the other slightly down, both eyebrows angled toward his nose, he had the look of an eagle, he looked downright intense, perhaps dangerous. Absolutely not a man to be trifled with. His walk wasn't exactly a stalk, but it was a toned-down version of one. The thin, jumpy, quick-moving type-A personality of a young woman moving rapidly at a right angle to my path, told me what kind of person she was without having any idea at all who she was.

I think I was pretty much oblivious to the way people walk, as are most of us, until I saw the movie derived from the Tolkien series, "Return of the King." Aragorn walked onto the field of battle, brandishing his sword with an anticipative smile on his face. If actor Viggo Mortensen came up with that rolling swagger himself, he should receive an Oscar just for that. If the director did, then he should receive it. It shouted, "This is what I do, and I'm really really good at it. Boy are you gonna get it. I'm coming!" If I could duplicate that walk, it wouldn't be appropriate. I'm not that tough, and wanting to be won't help. I'd get my ears knocked loose, or I'd make people laugh.

Since then, I can't help noticing how people walk. It says everything about you. Myself, I've been battling the slouch that can come with age, too many cares and, well, age. Shoulders back! Stand tall! I sound like somebody's mother, don't I?

Well, that's an essay for another day.

I got interrupted while I was typing, and I had to walk through a bunch of people again. Now I'm seeing that everyone sits differently, too.

Now if you, the reader, start to notice these things too, soon you'll be doing what I was, walking around with a stupid grin on your face. 'Cause it's funny. But remember, grinning's not polite. I could see I was annoying people, who wondered if I was amused at the way they look.

Yep.

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