Slowing to Zero

Have you ever been walking along, perhaps on your way into work, when you see someone heading the same way on a converging path, someone you don't feel like talking to first thing in the morning. You know that unless you take evasive action, you're going to meet this person in 30 seconds, and you'll have no choice but to politely make small talk with them about the weather, about their weekend. So obviously you feel like diving into the nearest bush to wait until danger has passed, but the less dramatic solution is to either slow down your walking pace so that they pass in front of you, or speed up dramatically.

This morning I may possibly have taken the slowing down option, it being the less energetic technique. But no sooner had I halved my speed, I noticed that my prey had done the same ! She must have secretly spied me and had exactly the same idea, and now we were both stuck. Being anxious to head into work to get started on some important business, the last thing I wanted was to be walking at a snails pace in some weird anti-race with some near-stranger who happened to work in the same building. And yet here I was. I stopped completely, contemplating an emergency tying of the shoelaces. I looked over and my prey had now disappeared - she must have doubled back or taken a radically different route.

How silly we are !