This morning's experiment

I've actually tried a variation on this experiment, where I stick clearly to the right side of traffic (for the obvious reason you state), and then refuse to move out of people's way who are oncoming in my 'lane'. My results were different. Most often, I have been struck by women (or the bags they are carrying). Often this happens when there are two or more of them coming down the sidewalk, talking to each other side-by-side. Clearly, they assume I should walk in the grass or traffic or merge with a concrete building so that their conversation is not affected. And many of the times, when I haven't moved and either their shoulder or purse or bag has been banged, I have heard a vocal exclamation of surprise and irritation.

You ask why, and I'm not sure I would presume to guess that. My working hypothesis is that certain women (see your disclaimer above) presume that a man will automatically defer to her, regardless of whether she's being inconsiderate or not. While sometimes I bump into men, what I've discovered is that most men will shift a little bit to avoid contact, sort of a pedestrian game of chicken, in more than one sense of the word.

I'll state that be default I defer to others in traffic. I shift my shoulders and accommodate people (both genders). But there are times when I get really irritated with how clueless and self-absorbed people are, and their assumption that though they are *clearly* out of their 'lane', everyone else should just move aside. Probably not the best rationale for conducting experiments, but, c'est la vie.

So did you apologize or make any other acknowledgment after contact, or simply keep on keepin' on?