How do you carry yourself?

[MC Moot]

You know when your out and about, on the street….alone…..you wear a cold ass stare or do a zen like strut, maybe you keep your mug down, eyes avert?…do you grin, are you thin?...how’s it change from the time of day to the block your in?...think you’ve got the right to look her up and down, cat call on the mall…..are you the crazy person who try’s to engage me every time I have to take transit?.....how you going out?....staying human?....or has your city got you down?....I was all sinister this morning and it must have been showing cause this West Indian cat, picked up on my foulness as I approached from about a block away and delivered the nicest morning greeting, that changed my day….everything became irie…..(y)

[paul jones]

yeah,whenever West Indian cats are around I tend to lighten up(y)

[abcdefz]

From living in larger cities, I've kind of learned the no-eye-contact thing, but I try to break myself of that from time to time.

[jabumbo]

nobody fucks with the jesus

[MC Moot]

Irie, man. Irie.

It depends for me. I was recently walking by myself, midnight, in New orleans. Cold forward stare. However, usually, I'm very sparkly and attract people.

Sittin' on a sack of beans
Sittin' down in New Orleans
You wouldn't believe what I've seen
Sitting on that sack of beans

Lunatics on pogo sticks
Another southern fried freak on a crucifix
Hicks don't mix with politics
People on the street just kickin' to the licks

[MC Moot]

nobody fucks with the jesus

he built my hot rod,as well as being a hell of a bowler....

[MC Moot]

From living in larger cities, I've kind of learned the no-eye-contact thing, but I try to break myself of that from time to time.

All the animals come out at night.
Queens, fairies, dopers, junkies, sick venal.
Some day a real rain will come and wash all the scum off the streets.

Thank god for the rain to wash the trash off the sidewalk. Listen you screwheads:Here is a man who would not take it anymore.
A man who stood up against the scum, the filth.
Now I see clearly.

Personally I know the alley
Where Jack feeds on the birds of night
Not even bubbies on bicycles 2x2
Can stop the blood and feathers flying....

[BangkokB]

I scream and yell so I can find my ppl

Close 1 I so I know who I'm talking too.

I'll fight you if you say we landed on the moon

[TurdBerglar]

no direct eye contact mostly. maybe a nod if the people seem friendly and or sane enough. upright stance. head high. shoulders back. steady walking rhythm with long brisk strides. try not to draw attention to myself from the weirdos that always ask you about shit or if you have a cigarette. which all of this is the basic city walk. try to avoid conversation.

around here the "friendly" people are generally trying to get shit from you. so being friendly is usually a bad thing. being friendly associates you with the wrong people.

[abcdefz]

no direct eye contact mostly. maybe a nod if the people seem friendly and or sane enough. upright stance. head high. shoulders back. steady walking rhythm with long brisk strides. try not to draw attention to myself from the weirdos that always ask you about shit or if you have a cigarette. which all of this is the basic city walk. try to avoid conversation.

around here the "friendly" people are generally trying to get shit from you. so being friendly is usually a bad thing. being friendly associates you with the wrong people.



That sounds about right. For me, it's just... now and again, I feel like I'm sort of trapped into being a cold person, and that's generally
when I'll smile to someone or whatever.

I've got one or two people at each stop on my route (bus, then BART station) that I can talk to casually or just as freely nod at
and ignore. So that feels a little humanizing.

[MC Moot]

no direct eye contact mostly. maybe a nod if the people seem friendly and or sane enough. upright stance. head high. shoulders back. steady walking rhythm with long brisk strides..

same,same....but I alway's make sure whomever I'm approaching knows I'm aware of them,often I meet eyes but I'm already looking past them....particularily the sketchy lot of tweakers,transients and any group of males that # more than 3.....particularily between the hours 10 p.m - 9 a.m,round these partz....

[Bob]

no direct eye contact mostly. maybe a nod if the people seem friendly and or sane enough. upright stance. head high. shoulders back. steady walking rhythm with long brisk strides. try not to draw attention to myself from the weirdos that always ask you about shit or if you have a cigarette. which all of this is the basic city walk. try to avoid conversation.

around here the "friendly" people are generally trying to get shit from you. so being friendly is usually a bad thing. being friendly associates you with the wrong people.

same here. i once walked past someone and he flipped out and said "what the fuck are you looking at?" and i never even looked at him, not even a glance. i'm still not sure what he looked like actually.

anyway my point is that some people are like gorillas, they attack you if you look them in the eye. better to play it safe and not do it at all. some people have something to prove i guess (that something being that they're an asshole)

[TurdBerglar]

it's real bad when you're waiting for the bus and there's a little old lady there trying to chat you up and you're all like... NOPE CAN'T TRUST YOU. then you start feeling bad because it's a lonely old lady so you start talking to her. it turns out you have nice conversation with her and actually enjoyed it and it pulled you out of that fowl early morning mood. then as the bus approaches she's fumbling around through her purse and she turns to you, "oh dear it appears i don't have a dollar for the bus.". she asks you for a dollar and and you gladly give it to her. then the bus comes and you get on and she doesn't. and as the bus is pulling away and you notice her still outside and you're all like... HEY! THAT CONNIVING LITTLE OLD SHIT!

[abcdefz]

I'm amazed how often people will just ask me or other strangers for bus fare. Flatly unashamed, unapologetic. And, yeah, I have seen (once)
someone ask for fare and then not get on the bus.

I'm really guarded about getting hustled. It has less to do with losing money than my pride: "Hey, you think I'm stupid!?"

A few weeks back I was riding the bike to the bus stop and I passed this van in the bank parking lot -- a guy helping a woman out,
handing her a bottle of juice. I wouldn't have noticed except -- why are you dropping off a woman at the bank at 5:00 a.m.?

Anyway, I got to the bus stop and was smoking a cigarette and a few minutes later, the lady's there. Pretty beat up -- black eye,
under-dressed, etc. She starts chatting me up and asks if she can buy a cigarette from me. Sorry -- last one. She keeps asking,
but -- sorry, I'm smoking my last one.

Then she switches tactics and asks if she borrow a dollar for light rail. :confused: Uh -- you were going to give me money for a
cigarette but you don't have money for the fare?

I told her no. I mean -- you should've gotten it from the dude who dropped you off, you somehow got money for a juice or to buy
a cigarette, but...

...it was just the weirdest scamming because it made zero sense.

[TurdBerglar]

sometimes it's worth giving the weirdo a quarter just to get them to fuck off

[abcdefz]

Yeah, see, I just can't, in that kind of situation. 'Cause then the terrorists have won.

No, I just think... I think even people who have legitimate mental or social
problems sometimes just crank it up in this passive aggressive way to punish
people around them because they themselves feel like shit. So when
somebody's being a real creep, I just can't reward them for it, because it's
my job to punish them, obviously.

[TurdBerglar]

what if the guy stinks, has 5 teeth, is covered in flaky skin, slurs all his words, and twitches. i think it's worth a quarter to get that shithead away from you. just for your own good.


then there's these people. the people that just go up to everyone one and just ask for a dollar and that's it. no story no nothing. just continue on if they get nothing in return. no begging. just carpet bomb the shit out of the bus station. i wonder who is more successful. the carpet bombers or the strategic ones with many stories and scams.

[abcdefz]

I think you can usually tell who's a pro and who is in a unique, I-would-never-ask-this-but kind of situation.

Anything remotely manipulative and I just don't do it. I don't want to encourage it.
I figure they're like pigeons, and if people stop throwing crumbs out, the pigeons won't keep flocking to the area.

[b i o n i c]

watch out for non-english speaking, mumble crying, fake pregant women. especially ones that stay looking really pregnant between 1-2 years. they rake in more money that a money rake could rake if there was such a thing as a money rake(y)

[TurdBerglar]

and FUCKED teeth.


there's this girl around here that's very very pretty. looks very proper and well dressed and presentable. but she's a crazy nutty crackhead. the only way you can tell if you did not know of her is if you noticed her teeth.

[DandyFop]

I was at a bar recently, and some dude came up with the sob story "Hey that's my gf over there, she's pregnant and we only need 5.50 to get our hotel room" blah blah blah.

We all just say no and are standing around and we see him go inside, I was guessing to use the bathroom. Nope. The fucking dude went and bought a beer. I wanted SO BAD to go in and say something but I didn't want him freaking out on me or something.

[ToucanSpam]

No slouching, usually my hand are in my pocket and I stare forward, only occassionally glancing and making eye contact. I don't stomp or have a scowl on my face unless I have a really bad headache.

[cookiepuss]

I dropped myself on my head once. So I don't carry myself anymore.


and I wouldn't trust myself any farther than I can throw myself.

[JesusChrist]

nobody fucks with the jesus

Damn fucking straight.

[Bob]

Damn fucking straight.

remember when there was only one set of footprints? that's when i was carrying YOU

[mikizee]

^hahaha

I usually just keep my head down and try not to get in anyones way. I gots short legs but I still walk pretty fast like im in a rush, if I was wearing cordouroy pants i'd be costanza-like vvvt vvvvvtt-ing everywhere.

[russhie]

Depends on the shoes.

When I walk to and from work I'm in heels, so I probably strut a little bit, especially if I'm in a skirt or dress or something. I never hurry in heels, you look funny if you try and walk too fast...it just looks better if you sorta swing your hips a bit.
I usually have my ipod with me...sometimes I'll smile a bit bigger when a song comes on that I like, and people on the street will smile back.

[tracky]

like i own the place

[ericlee]

Well, I do make eye contact most of the time. For one thing, I've almost always got my shades on and once they're on, they stay on. Even if I'm at the club and it's 1 in the am. For one, I'm not a fan of light and having such a sleeping problem as I have, it just intensifies any kind of light. For another thing, I'm afraid I'll lose my glasses or break them if I put them in my pocket. Shades has been my hometown nickname since I was about 12 years old when I was sportin the glacier glasses with the leather thingys on the sides.

Another thing is if I'm just cruising along the sidewalk, I'll almost always have my headphones on and I won't take them off for anyone unless it appears that they have a real important question to ask such as directions or what not. I don't take em off for street merchants though. I can spot em a mile away.

If I'm out and about and not in the midst of transit to get to work, I'll have a conversation with anyone. I've never met a stranger. I'm very kind, I have no fear of any sort anymore and it'll probably get me in a tough spot but oh well.

The other day while sitting on a bench, a homeless guy saw me smoking a cig and asked me for one. I had a full, unopened pack and a half a pack. I told him to go ahead and take the full pack and it made his day and seeing that, it made my day. I CAN'T BELIEVE I STARTED SMOKING AGAIN!!!

But yeah, I pretty much stroll when I walk, body fully erect and fully aware but yet, I'm such a relaxed cat.

And West Indian? You mean like Cherokee? hmm.

[BangkokB]

My last post made 0 sense. Hopefully this will redeem myself. It's according to what type of day I'm having. Typically what I've found is once I get in a cab I don't say anything bc otherwise they try to direct the conversation ways I don't like so I just stay silent. If I have my headphones on I use them. If the taxi driver is fucking me about I adamantly voice my opinion of my disapproval-I give directions of where I'm going and ignore whatever they're trying to say. And no, I don't trust their "short cuts". I never tip a taxi driver and if anything I short them bc most of them I don't like.

When I was in the States and if it was late night while I was out partying I'd buy the store vagrant a double deuce beer if my ends were in order. As for the here and now, I usually buy the motorcycle taxi squad a round of beers if I have my buzz on and it's either Friday evening or Saturday afternoon and I'm still riding the rails

I refuse to give kids $ that hang out at overly long red lights and believe that they should be rounded up and thrown into an orphanage and their parents should be charged with child endangerment at the very least. It makes the country look bad and the parents should be ashamed of themselves.

[Lyman Zerga]

My last post made 0 sense.

no way!

[Yetra Flam]

Honestly, each day is different. It really depends. I walk with confidence, sure. Sometimes i make eye contact, sometimes i don't. I move quickly. I generally have my head up high, slightly back, not in an elitist kind of way, but that's more of my relaxed kind of stance. Almost like i'm sussing people out, eyeing them. I'm a tall girl, but i still maintain good posture.
I dont' think i have a very feminine walk at all, and sometimes i'm conscious of that, and try to walk like a woman but it probably looks fake.

[Chicka B]

Well I carry myself kinda lop-sided because my backpack weighs about 100 pounds and the straps always somehow become uneven. But I walk fast, and I do stare at the people I'm passing because I just find people interesting, is that weird? Also I find it funny when people are obviously trying not to make eye contact, especially when I know them. It's like, how oblivious are you to your surroundings to not notice me when I'm walking right passed and even bumping into you? C'mon. :rolleyes: But when they do make eye contact, I'll smile or say "hi (name)" because I'm nice. :cool:

[Jitters]

Most of the time I walk with one hand stuck in my pocket except the thumb and look straight forward without eye contact. Usually I try to stand up straight, just because.

[MC Moot]

Well I carry myself kinda lop-sided because my backpack weighs about 100 pounds and the straps always somehow become uneven. But I walk fast, and I do stare at the people I'm passing because I just find people interesting, is that weird? Also I find it funny when people are obviously trying not to make eye contact, especially when I know them. It's like, how oblivious are you to your surroundings to not notice me when I'm walking right passed and even bumping into you? C'mon. :rolleyes: But when they do make eye contact, I'll smile or say "hi (name)" because I'm nice. :cool:

That's my favorite response so far....I like that.....nice nuff.....keep on,keeping on....:)

[MC Moot]

I would also like to add that I've noticed when I wear black boots like Doc's,Fluevog's or Blundstones,I am more prone to an anti-social dispositon or stance.....but I look proper.....hmmmmmmm