Quite honestly, I'd like to say that dehumanising anyone, comparing them to waste isn't exactly admirable.

But then, if you're anything like me, you'll find it difficult to cope with the untold amounts of people around you. I only have slight agoraphobic tendencies myself, though perhaps I'm deserving of an entirely different diagnosis.

You're me, walking down the street:

You don't like people walking directly behind you, footsteps give evidence of their existence, but what is unknown makes you slightly nervous and uncomfortable.

Someone walking directly in front of you? That's not comfortable either, and you're going to have to make some distance between yourself and them. Slow down, walk past them, maybe even sit down or find something to delay your journey. Doing your laces up works well in this situation, though with several crowds around you're best to amuse yourself away from the street, try again later.

Somewhat of a worst-case scenario of course, but when you have a serious concentration of people like today, it's overbearing enough to affect everyone. Breathing in the stale sweat of hundreds, unwantingly sharing their mass of bodyheat, claustrophobic doesn't even begin to describe the scene.

Your brain, weary with processing the paths and probable behaviour of the dozens of people immediately in your vicinity, updated every second as hordes of fresh faces make their own route through the crowds. Judging, evaluating, predicting and compensating for every granny, pram, child, couple. Following their eyes, calculating the spacial layout of the scene continually, you always have to be aware.

Conflicts in judgement, you get an elbow to the head, or worse. Unprepared, a new figure appears unexpectedly, you're both temporarily startled. Facing each other, you adjust and continue. A lone child, inexperienced, carelessly walking straight into you while completely unaware of his surroundings.

But it's never their fault, you're sorry. You're always sorry.

It's exhausting. I can barely cope.

You just want to shop, to look, to walk around freely without restriction. They stand where you want to look, where you want to go, without a little self confidence you're easily trapped by this insanity. Patience serves well, for it's only the hurried ones that cause inconvenience, maybe. Escape seems a sensible idea, but the exit is blocked, the hordes are rushing in towards you, the minority who wish to leave.

You can never complain, no one person is responsible, it's just the byproduct of our society. You can't reprogram the mass-mindset, so instead you make a hasty retreat. But you're going to have to be forthright, you can't stand this any longer, you're going to have to ask them to move in a lovingly polite manner. Now they're disgusted with you, their right to consume is greater than your need to run away from the prison it created.

Funny looks all around, you're insignificant, crowd rule stands.

Fresh air, a quiet street, soft rain and a faint rainbow.

I feel much better away from it all.

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