Cruise Day 27
I have given it nearly a month now and I have officially given
up. I am no longer forcing myself to walk on the left side of things.
Traveling with a ship full of Aussies, it became clear very
quickly that, much like they drive, the
Australians walk on "the other side." Makes sense. Americans (and the
rest of the civilized world) rightly do the same thing.
Trying to be a good travelmate, I have been conscientiously
walking opposite what I’ve spent nearly 60 years doing. Left-side walking is very easy on
the walking deck and in the narrow hallways of the passenger cabins and outside
the buffet. No problem. The flow of traffic
is clearly to the left and I am happy to accommodate.
What has vexed me, though, are the stairwells.
So that we can cruise without elastic pants, Rob and I have
a No Elevators Rule. We slog up and down many flights of stairs every day. But,
each stairwell typically has four lanes. This is where my patience has run thin
and my resolve has crumbled like the double-chocolate chip cookies in the International Cafe four flights down.
I cannot for the life of me pick the proper stairwell lane.
I have tried every lane climbing up and breezing down (trust me, I have had LOTS of opportunities
to test this out). I inevitably end up face-to-face with an annoyed Aussie
wanting me to be somewhere else. And oddly, they are rarely the ones to move out
of the way. They just stand their ground, waiting for me to move. I have stopped saying, "I'm sorry!" since my American accent seems to make it worse.
Since I can’t seem to get it right, and I am annoying them
anyway, I have officially decided to hike the stairs in the lane that makes sense to me in the moment. And
continue to celebrate walking in ports where the world is right again.
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| Four lanes, with an added obstacle. He seemed amused he was in the way. Best I could tell, he was waiting for someone to get off the elevator. |
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