A Good Brisk Walk Can Save The World

The scene unfolds at a corner carry-out store/gas station. In walk a couple of teenagers, followed by an elderly couple. A mother of two stops by to get a lottery ticket and a half gallon of milk. Guess what they all have in common? They live just blocks from this place, and they all drove here. Why not just leave the car parked at home? Why propogate the "Couch Potato" lifestyle of convenience oriented travel? How many of you get into your cars and drive less than a quarter mile to do everything? Sidewalks are provided for a purpose. Business owners in many cities are required to maintain and repair the small patches of concrete that line their property. Will they remain the useless artifacts from a time long forgotten, or will we reclaim our neighborhoods.

Heart and lung specialists join with doctors everywhere to urge us as humans to become more active. It can start small. Just a ten minute walk to our local stores to do the little chores we take for granted. Taking useless automobile traffic off the road would do so much to relieve the congestion of our roads, and likely the effects of road rage. Every day, somewhere in the news we see yet another study stating that Americans are becoming less and less physically fit, yet we avoid walking like it carries with it some contageous disease. We jump into our cars in the morning, open our remote controlled garage doors and drive to work where we earn enough to buy new and unnecessary convenience items like televisions and DVD players. Then we drive straight home, park in our garage and head in to sit in front of the boob tube without even a glance at our neighbors, much less time for a kind word.

Let's get out there and use what our tax dollars have provided for us. Sidewalks exist, in every city in America. If they aren't in your town, what does that say about the friendly small town image. Say hello to your neighbors, stop and talk to them for a few minutes. Heck, you might even find out you like that guy who's radio keeps you awake at night. He may even turn down the volume without you saying anything if he knows that you exist. It's so much harder to do anything, "Just to spite your neighbor" if you actually know who that neighbor is.
America would be a much friendlier place if people walked more. We've moved away from the cities and spread out as much as we can to avoid that very thing. This doesn't even bring into account the other positive effects of leaving the car parked in the garage. Fewer short, walkable trips driven means saving fuel, and (in today's world of high gas prices) saving fuel is income saved for more of those little useless conveniences at your disposal. Less gasoline wasted means less harmful environmental effects. It means more interaction with the people around you. I'm all about broadening horizons, but how about narrowing our daily travels? Cars are useful tools, but frankly, like alcohol and tobacco they are abused without remorse.

So how about it America. When you need a loaf of bread from your local carry-out. Put the keys in your pocket and travel with the tire tread on your feet. Your heart may thank you, and it just may feel like a hug from the earth.

-Glenn E. Petersen
September 25, 2000