Watching people and analyzing their idiosyncrasies can be one of the most thought-provoking hobbies. Today as I watched people walk here and there, I started to notice their quirky characteristics regarding how they walk. A few personal favorites:

The boy, who's slender frame was hidden beneath his over-sized T-shirt, had on a pair of shorts and shoes that equally matched the size and ridiculousness of his top-half. Every step he took begged his shorts to drop a half-inch lower, which coincided with a familiar pinch-pull that brought his shorts up two inches higher. This pinch-pull was also accompanied with a knee pop that guided his drawers further up his non-existent hips. His complementary shoulder swing, and clip-clopping of his shoes orchestrated a beat that smoothly blended with his neighbor to create a rhythm that only a keen observer could hear.

The new mother, donning her perfectly matching pink puma gear that screams ‘fashion meets function,’ huffing and puffing as she vigorously pushed the stroller in an attempt to lose the newly-acquired belly pudge. The piece of hair that resisted the prison of the headband caused the woman to give her neck a little whip, in attempt to keep it in place once and for all. Her hips swayed back and forth in a fast-forward motion, almost horizontally traveling beyond the boundaries of the jiggling stroller. Determination was plastered on her face as her neck jutted forward, surely reducing aerodynamics and increasing her speed.

The little girl, who stared intently at every crack on the sidewalk, in an honest attempt to not break her mom’s back. She was ten feet behind her parents, who seemed oblivious to the fact that they even had a daughter. With every step that she took, instead of robotically moving one leg in front of the other, she would distinctly flick her foot at the full extension of her leg. She almost looked like a soldier, with her legs always two steps ahead of the rest of her body. Every new step brought along a new arm movement, whether it was a flying bird, a swimming fish, or a soaring rocket.

People are weird beings with peculiar habits. I can’t even explain the number of people with strange walks. It made my knees hurt, back ache, and feet swell to watch how some people normally walk. And then it made me think about my own walk, which brought about a few self inspections. Every time I walked by a store window, I would glance over to discover a flaw in my movement. Or I would casually peek down to see if my footprints were turned inwards or outwards in an awkward manner. This, of course, made me start to alter my posture, the angle of my feet, and the rhythm of my steps until satisfaction masked my self-consciousness. I am such a vain creature.

Do me a favor though, will you? Next time I’m walking somewhere, analyze my steps and let me know if I’ve got quirky characteristics to my stroll.