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Why did a guy walk into the mud when he saw me coming down the sidewalk?

  1. He saw me walking.
  2. He walked into the grass & mud when I was 15m away.
  3. He continued to walk in the grass & mud past me.
  4. When he was past me for an additional 10m, he walked back onto the sidewalk.

Yeah I was wearing what I think is pretty good style (picture attached), but was that all the reason to get his sneakers wet and muddy?

There was plenty of space on the sidewalk for us to just, walk on our respective right sides.

Need perspective of some men.

Picture of my outfit.

Edit 1

I am going with "DeltaWingDragon"s response. Most likely a covid era leftover behavior, especially because I was wearing a mask and he was not.

Edit 2

For the men posting about not wanting to be a threat, in this case I think it would have been best for you (not him, as his reason is unknown and likely what the precious edit mentioned), is to pass by while following the sidewalk sharing rules (move to your right side of the sidewalk) and nodding a "good morning" or whichever time day it was as you go bye, without shifting much eye focus from the path you're walking.

Please don't internalize that you're a threat, you can be much more then what you're painted as.

44 comments

  • He may have been trying to be kind and give you space or maybe he was sick. This is all I can think of lol

  • there comes a point in every man's life when he suddenly realizes "i must return to the dirt" and immediately descends into the nearest morass to return to the earth

    (on a serious note, i haven't the foggiest clue. some people are just weird, idk)

    • Bwhehe, Thank you for the giggle!

      Dear, of course you don't have a clue, you're a woman.

      • A kind of new trans woman, it wasn't that long ago when I did identify as a cis man (though even then I didn't understand a lot of "male" behavior. I was terrible at trying to be a man 🙄)

  • heh, your edits are kinda hilarious when you note that the position you've 'agreed' with has just ~15 upvotes, while the two noting its a 'dangerous by default' thing each have like 50 or 100 upvotes. Men gave you their perspective, and you choose to ignore it. Most guys agree on what that sort of behaviour typically is -- and even if it is the left over covid habit, that's still a "this person is wearing a mask and likely wants to stay distant from others, I should walk in the mud because they'll think I'm a threat if I get too close".... is still in the ball park of walkin in the mud cause he wants to show he's not a threat.

    A large number of men have internalised all the negativity expressed in the media about our gender over the last few decades. Lots of the ones who've resisted / refused to do so, have gone the extreme right / alpha male BS route, trying to aggressively push back against it in a rather sad way. I reckon its partially because progressive / left leaning approaches don't typically allow for any dissenting voices on things like gender, and are heavily influenced by feminist ideology: masculine sexuality and traits are the enemy. Caucasian males in specific, is one demographic that's always pretty safe to dunk on in pretty well any scenario.

    I'd phrase it a bit differently though, I think, in that its more risk avoidance than threat internalization -- even if one follows the other. Like I know guys who get anxiety if they're asked to work a shift with just one other coworker (female) on site - I've had the same concerns personally. It's not because we think we'll slip up and accidentally assault the woman or something. It's that we're worried we'll say something / do something that the woman will take offense to, there'll be no witnesses to support our side, and the standard of today is "believe the victim (if its not a male victim)". Avoiding being in that situation/getting anxiety over it, isn't an internalization of being a threat, so much as it's wanting to avoid the potential risk of something that's shown in many media circles constantly.

    Nodding hello and saying good morning / afternoon is something I reserve typically for older men, usually white or asian. Any other demographic tends to net a negative response more often than naught. Like imagine if every other person you said "hello" to quickened their pace to get away from you or shot you nasty looks -- you'd prolly stop doin it too. I've even had X's who said they thought that behaviour was an attempt to 'pick them up', which I definitely don't want to mis-convey. I still say it back if someone says it to me, but I can't initiate without it re-enforcing a negative male stereotype. That pleasantry was killed off like a decade or more ago, in part because the onus to maintain it shifted away from men.... and women didn't really want to take the step to keep it goin. I mean, you didn't exactly say "g'mornin" to the mud walker guy to let him know it's all good, did you? ;p

  • I walk a lot through grass and mud. Most of the times I am wearing water-repellent boots, but there have been times when I am wearing sneakers and I step into some wet mud or grass by habit and get them all wet. This person may be used to walking in grass/mud. Perhaps they work in the field, or enjoys hiking through wet grass and mud to find amphibians. So, that is one thing to consider: people experience different levels of discomfort when walking through mud.

    You mention that he was wearing sneakers. Are you sure about that? Water-resistant boots make one extra comfortable about walking through wet terrain.

    If the sidewalk was so broad that you could have two people side by side comfortably with extra space, then it is a bit weird but it could still be a habitual reaction to giving way to others.

    Since I like walking on grass and I know that others might not, it is not uncommon for me to walk into grass to get out of the way. I also do this on the bike when the bike path is narrow because I am driving either a hybrid or an mountain e-bike and I know these handle the grass better than many other bikes.

    • I love walking on grass too!

      Its a lot more comfy then concrete, because the ground adds springiness and padding to my movements.

      yep! He was wearing black nike sneakers I think.

      • Go team grass! 😁

        Ah, well, if he was wearing sneakers then the boots theory does not apply. I am not sure. You have many possible answers already... The actual answer might end up being quite simple though. He may have realized the grass was wet a second too late, and by that point chose to commit as he was wet already.

44 comments