I used to hate slow pedestrians, then I became one

I was always walking quickly.

I grew up in Arizona and Michigan, my friends laughed at walking long distances that I was eating in my neighborhood in extreme heat and cold. Therefore, when the college started in Manhattan in 2013, I fit the city speed.

I felt proud when my parents came for the first time to visit and hung on the quality of the conformity of everyone. Like many New York residents, I came to look down at slow Striders and publicly complained about them.

Then she fell ill

Tourists, in particular, were a frequent target – I could always know when someone was accurately out of the city with their steps. For me, it was a sign that they did not respect our quick culture. I felt a responsibility in the future when people were not walking quickly enough, following the unannounced land law. With young people, the elderly or anyone suffering from a clear physical weakness, cut some stagnation. But I found it embarrassing when my colleagues could not keep up with it.

All this changed earlier this year when I was diagnosed with the heart problem that kept me near Al -Khargi for about two months. Although I was in good health and I could not do anything that would raise the heart rate, including taking the stairs or even walking more than a few steps at a time. For the first time, I was the person who goes at an ice pace. “Don’t worry about others. Go at a pace you need,” said my fiancée as he wanders slowly beside me, and helps me in daily tasks such as grocery or picking up medications.

But I could not get rid of the rude looks from others and disturb it to be cut constantly when I came out. I learned to abandon my body, almost unconsciously, to allow people to pass through whenever I hear you approach me.

I knew that when people looked at me, perhaps they wouldn’t suspect that anything was wrong. I wished to be able to wear a sign of my face, saying: “You don’t know what I face now.”

I became less referee

While I continued my butterfly, just leaving the house a few minutes a day, I finally seen Another slow infantry in a different way. The concessions made by some of the elderly on the street have noticed constantly withdrawing to the side to allow others to pass. I saw young children walking at home with their parents from school, and they took their time while taking the world around them. Friends and husbands were wandering and talking, not in any calf to reach their destination. They gave me comfort, just as it was good to move through life on my own conditions and I do not feel pressure to keep up with anyone else.

The most difficult part of my case was aware of how the daily life could be accessible. When you needed to take a train, I had to find elevator or Salem stations, which were more difficult than I realized. Simple things like exercise to launch stress are no longer possible. I often found myself feeling crazy at home, bored and angry because I could not reach the outside world like anyone else.

I no longer feel the desire to walk

These days, my condition has often improved, so I move again – and if it is not great as usual. Whenever I see slow now, I feel a sense of solidarity. Of course, not everyone who walks slowly does this for a hidden medical reason. But regardless of the few times when I will need a strong rush, I do not feel the same clouds just for it just.

Weeks ago, when I finally went on the Central Park with my friends for the first time in months, I apologized for very slow. One of them said, “It is better to walk very quickly,” referring to the beautiful trees that just began to flourish. “We prefer to take everything in it.”