They Might Already Be Walking As Fast As They Can

Notes from Life After the Bell

I cannot count how many times I’ve been annoyed walking behind someone slow.

You know the feeling—
that boiling irritation when someone is in your way,
moving at half your speed,
and you’ve got somewhere to be.

Today, my husband and I were in a store.
(Perks of the Third Act—we can do that on a weekday now.)

He picked up a heavy box.
The kind that immediately says “we should have gotten a buggy.”

But instead of putting it back down like a sensible person,
he just… held it and looked at me.

I did not ask questions.

I went to get a buggy
(which, if you’re not from the South, is a shopping cart).

And I moved fast.
Really fast.

Faster than I’ve moved in months.

And that’s when it hit me—

I could breathe.
I wasn’t unsteady.
I wasn’t dizzy.

I was just… walking.
Like a normal person in a store, not someone wondering if the next step might take me down.

And I was so grateful I could have cried.
(I didn’t. Because… public.)

The poisoning is leaving my body.
I am clearly getting better.

And then—because my brain likes to keep things interesting—
another thought showed up.

We have no idea why someone is moving slow.

We don’t know if they are walking as fast as they possibly can.
We don’t know what their body is dealing with –
Or what it costs them just to be upright in that moment.

But we get annoyed anyway.

We assume they’re in the way.
We assume they’re not paying attention.
We assume we’re more important than whatever is slowing them down. And we all know how well assuming usually works out.

I remember what it felt like
to want to move faster
and not be able to.

To feel unsteady.
To feel unsure.
To feel like I was holding people up.

It’s humbling.

And… damn inconvenient, if I’m being honest.

I hope I never forget it.

Because the next time I’m stuck behind someone moving slow,
I want to remember— they might already be walking as fast as they can.

I remember what that feels like.

And I don’t ever want to forget.

—Pattie, moving a little slower (on purpose this time)

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