Left, Right, Left?

Maybe it's just another one of my neurotic tendencies, but has anyone else noticed the increase in the amount of people who walk on the wrong side of the sidewalk?  I've particularly noticed it here on campus with the students.  I always thought walking was like driving, walk on the right, pass on the left.  Apparently, this is not a hard and fast rule anymore, considering the numerous times I have been practically shoved off the sidewalk because someone walking on the wrong side of the sidewalk refused to move!  I'm not just talking about gaggles of girls walking three abreast or people absorbed in their smartphones, there are actually people who have their heads up and are paying attention, but refuse to move.

I've decided to make a game of it.  Just like playing chicken in elementary school, I am going to refuse to budge and force the "wrong walker" to back down.  This is not easy though, as I am not typically a confrontational person, and have often stepped aside into the grass out of fear.  No more I say!  I will not back down!

 I've only successfully attempted this maneuver once, because I "chickened out" at the last moment for all the others, but this one successful refusal to step aside resulted in the person moving over to the correct side of the side walk, and an absolute look of dismay on their part.

While some of you may think this occurrence is not significant, I'm inclined to think it represents a larger issue, which is the increasing lack of common courtesy between human beings.  We are so stubborn and fearful of human interaction, and absorbed in our own problems, we actually physically refuse to budge, or make eye contact, despite knowing we are "walking on the wrong side of the road".

I realize that being just as deliberately stubborn may not be the best solution, but maybe it will start forcing people to look at the world around them, instead of remaining so stubbornly absorbed in their own problems.

Watch out world!