Ageism and Mayday

Weight = unknown, too busy with renovating bath and kitchen at Folsom to take mind.

Coinage = $.01 on residual walk to Home Depot to fetch materials for Folsom project, about ½ mile round trip.

Observation = Today, ageism reared its ugly self.  The term was coined in 1969 by Robert N. Butler to describe discrimination and patronization against people my age (about 35 in “mind” years and 70 in calendar years).  So on my residual walk (any walk that is not a planned daily fitness walk) I had just found a penny and a few steps later a  ground score (a non-monetary find, in this case a device used to mix sheetrock “mud” or joint compound).  Still zooming and scanning the curbs, I failed to notice a one inch high fault in the sidewalk.  My foot caught the elevated slab in such a way as to lose balance instantly.  Sometimes the brain signals and SOS message, to make bodily adjustments so as to regain one’s balance.  This was a mayday signal, the Moneywalker was going down.  Being experience in the art falling, the ground score was discarded and the hands braced for the fall.  Perfect landing, the wrist, elbows, and shoulders absorbed the shock without even one scuffed palm or knee.  The problem occurred on the way down when I noticed three generous folks observing the entire production.  They rushed to my rescue assuming the worse, that the old gentleman must certainly by in need of an ambulance, or at least helped to his feet.  I looked them in the eye, thanked them for their concern, and before they could lay a hand, was back on my feet zooming and focusing in search of the next find.

Caution out there walkers, cars are not the only obstacle that must be monitored; sidewalks can result in nasty spills.  As for growing older, the Moneywalker plans are to push the “mayday” of living back at least ten more years, then we will see.

Moneywalker

The Onus Is On Walkers

May 10, 2011
Journal Entry: Weight = 171.0 pounds; Coinage = $1.91 (19 decas) 31 pennies, 1 nickel, 3 dimes, 5 quarters (two super finds defined as fifty cents or more in one location); Glass bottles = 4; Ground scores = 3.

Feature Entry: The Onus is on walkers (with apologies to Barry Pless, MD for stealing his title)On this afternoon’s walk, just in front of me, a pedestrian was screaming at a driver coming out of a drive-through of a Burger King. The driver ran over the pedestrian’s foot. The poor pedestrian was walking on a public sidewalk and the driver looking to dart into traffic never saw the poor fellow and ran over his foot. No serious damage was done so the screaming and naming calling was humorous.

Then just last week the Moneywalker saw this bumper sticker: “How is my walking?” At first I didn’t get it. Then when I saw the slogan was flanked by two mugs of beer I realized that it was satire poking fun at the ubiquitous signs on commercial carries that ask, “How is my Driving? Call 1-800-555-5555.”

Both episodes lead me to present the MoneyWalker’s guide to pedestrian safety. Good walkers are safe walkers. The list makes more sense if you remember that the driver of cars and trucks will always “blame the victim, the walker” if an accident happens. The list follows:

1. Prepare for the unexpected, only drivers have the right to assumptions.
2. Cars have the right of way at red lights and turning right on a red light even without stopping is their full privilege even if pedestrians are crossing the street.
3. Pedestrians must establish eye contact with drivers at intersections or when crossing the street; drivers need not be bothered.
4. Car drivers have the AT&T if not God given right to cell phone and text while driving.
5. Pedestrians must be mind readers; drivers are not required to think while driving.
6. Drivers have the right to drive with "declining eyesight, mobility, attention and reflexes"; pedestrians with the same maladies must stay home.
7. Drivers have a right to speed; pedestrians do not have the right to jay walk.
8. Pedestrians must hustle to cross the streets; cars are not expected to slow down.

The take away from this list is that drivers are equipped with a two thousand pound machine while pedestrians have only their fragile frame of delicate sinew and bones. It is not fair, but might makes right. Pedestrians cannot expect the law or common courtesy to provide protection. So, unless you are built like an elephant, you must utilize rely upon a super sensitive vigilance when walking the highways and byways of our cities, towns, and county lanes.

MoneyWalker

Hogarthian Walking

Journal Entry: June 2, 2010: Weight = 170.2 lbs.; Coinage = $2.93, 114 pennies (one wheat), 3 nickels, 5 dimes, 1 quarter, 1 dollar bill ( a paper find is always special); Glass bottles retrieved = 7; Ground Scores = 4.

Journal Entry: June 3, 2010: Weight = 172.6 lbs; Coinage = $1.39, 49 pennies, 4 nickels, 2 dimes, 2 quarters; Glass bottles = 6; Ground scores = 10; Best coinage find = a totally blackened quarter, a “step over” quarter, also a 5 peso coin.

Feature Entry: Hogarthian Walking

This morning during my walk Malick cried out Bob, Bob! He wanted to say hello. I had talked with him and two street companions on the day before. The three homeless men had talked about seeing me frequently walking the area and were curious about what I seemed to be doing. They could tell by my dress and determined look that I was not a typical walker in the neighborhood. I had met one of them before and he knew that I was a money walker.

The episode reminded me of William Hogarth(his "Beer Street" painting is featured above). About 250 years ago Hogarth, a noted painter and artist, walked the seedy streets of London and painted what he saw—usually impoverished men and women living in debauchery. New Orleans has always been a city with thin layers of wealthy and wretched communities existing side by side. Thus, as one walks in our city, one moves from opulence to Hogarthian-type low rent districts in a matter of minutes. In the Canadian Forum, a Hogarthian walk is interestingly described as follows: “You don't stand back and observe the city from a safe distance as you would with, say, Canaletto. You are swept along the alleyways, jostled from each side, forced to dodge the contents of an emptied piss-pot or to step over an inebriated harlot.”

There are places in New Orleans like that. The MoneyWalker avoids the ones known to be high crime areas. But an urban savanna is a full context of dwellings and situations, not just an oasis for the well educated. Not walking into the full range of neighborhoods is to completely miss the Hogarthian philosophy of walking. “One of William Hogarth’s consummate skills as an artist was his ability to make you feel part of his world.” New Orleans neighborhoods can be a seedy world? Many are places of indeterminacy, disorder, and confusion where lives are being played out in a way understood in no better way than by walking and reflecting on the sights, sounds, and smells of the neighborhoods.

The MoneyWalker is cautious and selective of the streets that are selected for walking, but if there is no reason to suspect that an area is inclined to support criminal behavior, he will allow his “psychogeographic” curiosity to direct his path; and, he thinks, better for it.

MoneyWalker

Walking and Dog Bites

Journal Entry: Weight = 172.4 lbs.; Coinage = $3.43, 93 pennies ( one wheat), 10 nickels, 5 dimes, 3 quarters; Glass bottles retrieved and placed in disposal = 14; Ground scores = 5 including two nice articles of clothing for the charity yard sale or the recycle pole; Best find = 18 pennies from a boutique car wash cleaning area, one of those places that details your car, not a drive thru.

Feature Entry: Walking and dog bites

The New York Times owns an interesting internet company called About.com. Pull up About.com and it will list more than 750 topics of interest. NYT has experts in all of today’s popular topics such as walking, jogging, health promotion, and even how to create or improve an existing blog.

One of my favorites is About.com: Walking hosted by Wendy Bumgardner. It is a complete “guide to walking” and features walking, weight loss, training & workouts, and shoes & gear. In today’s feature she called herself a “happy walker.” She says that walking cheers her up. But some things irritate her including unleashed dogs, dangerous strangers, poisonous and irritating vines and critters; thistle weeds for example. I’m with her; there is nothing more irritating than taking a short cut only to fill my socks and warm-ups with prickling stickers. She also worries that she might sprain an ankle or twist a knee. Yikes!!

Wendy’s articles are well researched and trustworthy. Occasionally she talks about finding money and useful objects. In fact, she gave me the concept of “ground scores.” The MoneyWalker highly recommends her.

In the mean time, the MoneyWalker avoids unleashed dogs by changing directions and moving out of harm’s way. Occassionaly I have carried a stick to ward off menacing canines. Bumgardner reported that most people that are bitten or nipped receive bites from petting someone else’s dog that is on a leash. Dogs are often cute and coddly but they can be a problem, so be careful.

MoneyWalker