What follows is a catalog of pedestrian traffic along one side of my street over the noon hour on a Monday.
Some details: the street has a median strip, and I can only see the sidewalk on the east side. There are no destinations on the sidewalk I’m observing; it serves solely as a connector to other locales. The street is reasonably busy for cars, buses, and the occasional cyclist. It takes about 15 seconds for the average walker to pass my window; I’ll only capture what I can observe in that time.
12:05: a person in a black puffer jacket and jeans is heading south, looking intently at their phone. Just before they leave my field of view, they look up.
12:08: someone in a dark grey jacket and black shorts, sporting large headphones just above their ears, saunters south. It is currently 11°C (52°F) outside.
12:16: someone with long hair and a yellow plastic bag is checking their phone and looking as if to cross the street. Just behind walks another person in a puffer jacket, this one grey, and jeans. Both going south.
12:17: someone in a brown jacket and jeans, with a small backpack, trudges north.
12:21: a person in a long, almost ground-length, green jacket with the hood up is carrying a burlap tote bag in one hand and a navy blue tote bag over the opposite shoulder, walking north.
12:29: a person in a blue jacket and jeans with a black backpack scratches their ear, not looking up from their phone on the journey north.
12:30: a pair, one in a bright pink jacket and pink shoes, the other in a red and blue jacket with a baseball hat, have their arms tucked into one another’s, heading south.
12:34: someone with their hands in the pockets of a grey hooded jacket, wearing light-colored jeans and a heavy backpack, heads south.
12:37: someone in a long black puffer jacket, open over a white t-shirt and jeans, is walking south with purpose. Behind them, another person in a regular-length black puffer jacket and joggers is applying hand sanitizer from a pocket-size bottle.
12:43: a person in a dark green jacket, fuzzy hood up, and jeans pushes a stroller covered in plastic, weaving back and forth in a clear bid to entertain the baby, clad in white and pink, inside. Southbound.
12:44: someone in a black jacket and joggers, hair waving in the wind, is checking their phone, earphones plugged in. Behind them walks an older person in a black jacket and jeans who takes out and lights a cigarette. Both are heading south.
12:46: an adult in a large black jacket and jeans holds a plastic bag in one hand; in the other, the hand of a small child who is wearing a red-and-black jacket and beanie. They slowly make their way north.
12:52: not a pedestrian but a Just Eat rider on an electric scooter is heading northbound on the sidewalk, which is not where they are meant to be riding.
12:55: someone shielding from the wind by holding the hood of their blue jacket against their face passes wearing green skinny jeans and holding a giant Primark tote bag. After a few steps, they put on a pair of hot pink gloves. Further back is a person in a large blue jacket, black jeans, and sensible brown shoes. Both are walking south, the latter moving much more quickly.
12:56: a jogger (that’s a first!) runs north in a black puffer jacket, ponytail, and two-tone grey leggings.
12:57: someone in a red jacket and hat with headphones and jeans seems, based on their animated head movements, to be talking into their phone. Behind them is a person in a long black jacket and black leggings with a shoulder bag looking to cross the street, southbound. The Just Eat rider has reappeared, now headed south.
12:59: a person in a black puffer jacket with a fuzzy hood, jeans, and bright white sneakers walks northbound with their hands in their pockets.
1:00: two people, one in a bobble hat, black puffer jacket, and camo pants, the other in a gray hoodie and blue joggers, walk south together. They stop so the bobble hat-wearer can show the other something on their phone.
Final tallies: 25 pedestrians (that’s all?)—17 going south and 8 walking north, 13 pairs of jeans, 7 puffer jackets (6 black), 3 hats, 2 fuzzy hoods, 2 adult pairs traveling together, 2 children with a guardian, 2 attempted street-crossings, 1 electric scooter-rider (twice), 1 stroller-rider, 1 pair of shorts, 0 groups of rowdy football (soccer) fans yelling in the street. I suppose that’s more of an evening affair.
