Thinking About Arms

← Everybody is doing it!




Once again, coming to you live and caffeine-charged from Bookpuddle Headquarters, [a.k.a. Starbucks] at Chapters.
It’s totally packed with people in here, and so I’m looking at them.
Wow.

Do people ever swing their arms a lot when they walk.
Like everyone is doing it, I’m serious.
Unless maybe if their hands are in their jacket pockets, like this one guy right there. But pretty much everyone else... swinging away.
For some reason I feel that if everything all of a sudden went at reduced speed, slow motion like, including the overhead music, people en masse would sort of take on elephant-like characteristics, in their walking. Like elephants on parade sort of, and the arms would be like the trunks, swaying to and fro.
I don’t think I have ever thought about how much people swing their arms.
I wonder if I do it that much too.

I’m going to leave the laptop for a moment and go for a little walk around the place, and I am going to take note of how much I swing my arms and stuff, and also I am going to do a few experiments, like stopping the swinging of my arms and seeing what it feels like and all.

[interlude.... tawk amongst yourselves.....]

Wow.
I swing my arms a real lot when I walk too.
It’s actually sort of difficult to quit doing it, and yet keep walking. You instantly feel silly.
Like, for one thing... OK, I was doing it, hands sort of down at my side, not swinging, and first of all, it is as though your side-to-side movement is all of a sudden exaggerated.
Like the left to right motion of walking, it’s like you are tipping over too much, and it’s real uncomfortable, plus you probably look real dumb doing it.
Strangely though, I wanted to see myself not swinging like that. I was wishing there was a big mirror that I could wobble towards.
Plus I felt like a zombie, or someone that was released from the psych ward of the hospital a wee bit early!
It’s just totally not very normal at all, to not swing your arms.
Why is it that I have this image of crazy lunatic-ish people, walking and not swinging their arms?
I wonder if proper mental health can be linked to some sort of appropriate amount of arm-swinging, when doing normal walking. Somehow I think there must be a standard, like a grid.... something definable.

This much arm-swinging = normal.
That much arm-swinging = not normal.

What’s the deal with the arms-at-your-side zombie-ish feeling?
Try it, you’ll see what I mean.
I think that people should really have a look at what kind of arm-swinging they are doing.
Because let’s face it, you don’t want the opposite problem either, which would be way TOO MUCH arm-swinging.
Not good.
Especially if you are walking through some sort of..... auction-barn at the time!

I better just go on home. I feel dizzy.
Now I’m looking around this place, at other people seated at tables.
And I’m beginning to wonder...... if people’s knees bent the other way, what would chairs look like?

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