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May. 26th, 2005 08:57 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
rebeccmeisterI just finished reading A Walk in the Woods, by Bill Bryson--the first New York Times bestseller I've actually enjoyed. Here's an excerpt from my favorite part:
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Now here's a thought to consider. Every twenty minutes on the Appalachian Trail, Katz and I walked further than the average American walks in a week. For 93 percent of all trips outside the home, for whatever distance or whatever purpose, Americans now get in a car. On average the total walking of an American these days--that's walking of all types: from car to office, from office to car, around the supermarket and shopping malls--adds up to 1.4 miles a week, barely 350 yards a day. That's ridiculous.
...
But here's the thing: hardly anyone, as far as I can tell, walks anywhere for anything. I know a man who drives 600 yards to work. I know a woman who gets in her car to go a quarter of a mile to a college gymnasium to walk on a treadmill, then complains passionately about the difficulty of finding a parking space. When I asked her once why she didn't walk to the gym and do five minutes less on the treadmill, she looked at me as if I were being willfully provocative. "Because I have a program for the treadmill," she explained. "It records my distance and speed, and I can adjust it for degree of difficulty." It hadn't occurred to me how thoughtlessly deficient nature is in this regard.
At least in Hanover she could walk if she wanted to. In many places in America now, it is not actually possible to be a pedestrian, even if you want to be.
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A hilarious story about Bryson's maladventures in getting to a non-pedestrian-friendly KMart ensues. All I can say is, Amen, brother!
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Now here's a thought to consider. Every twenty minutes on the Appalachian Trail, Katz and I walked further than the average American walks in a week. For 93 percent of all trips outside the home, for whatever distance or whatever purpose, Americans now get in a car. On average the total walking of an American these days--that's walking of all types: from car to office, from office to car, around the supermarket and shopping malls--adds up to 1.4 miles a week, barely 350 yards a day. That's ridiculous.
...
But here's the thing: hardly anyone, as far as I can tell, walks anywhere for anything. I know a man who drives 600 yards to work. I know a woman who gets in her car to go a quarter of a mile to a college gymnasium to walk on a treadmill, then complains passionately about the difficulty of finding a parking space. When I asked her once why she didn't walk to the gym and do five minutes less on the treadmill, she looked at me as if I were being willfully provocative. "Because I have a program for the treadmill," she explained. "It records my distance and speed, and I can adjust it for degree of difficulty." It hadn't occurred to me how thoughtlessly deficient nature is in this regard.
At least in Hanover she could walk if she wanted to. In many places in America now, it is not actually possible to be a pedestrian, even if you want to be.
-----------
A hilarious story about Bryson's maladventures in getting to a non-pedestrian-friendly KMart ensues. All I can say is, Amen, brother!
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Date: 2005-05-27 04:32 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-05-27 07:59 pm (UTC)And I agree, Katz is fantastic. When I first started reading the book, I was expecting it to be written by a serious outdoorsman who would grimly hike the entire trail. It was actually nice to learn that their adventures were a bit more colorful. The chapter about Bryson's hike through an anti-pedestrian town is still my favorite.
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Date: 2005-05-27 08:01 pm (UTC)I think you should read Notes from a Small Island next because he walks around England (or uses public transportation) and it gives such a wonderful portrait of the country.