Just say excuse me, and push past them. Problem solved.

http://www.danalee.ca/personalpages/uplo…

http://torontoist.com/attachments/toront…

I always thought there should be little signs like this next to the escalators at Westlake and Convention Place stations.

It doesn't matter. You could hold a giant neon sign in front of their faces and they still wouldn't register.

Most people are completely oblivious to the world around them

This is like the pedestrian version of people who complain they can't go fast enough in the left lane on the highway.

@5 As one of those people, I can assure you that you're damn right. Get out of my way. :-)

This reads like that person who wrote a "rant and rave" to the Seattle Times about everyone riding the bus by themselves sitting alone and thus there being no completely passive way for her and her husband to sit together.

Use your polite voice and ask if you can pass on the left if you wish to do so. There might even be several people behind you who will also shuffle past. They'll get this picture.

There is an escalator just to the left that is exclusively for walking. IT'S CALLED THE STAIRS.

@5: it's called the passing lane for a fucking reason. Beyond the fact that it's the fucking law (RCW 46.61.100: Keep right except when passing, etc.), it's just simple driving etiquette that the overwhelming majority of drivers used to learn and follow.

I really don't get it: why the hell do you want to drive in the passing lane at speeds slower than traffic flow? It's like some weird psychological disorder.

@4: Hey douchebag - you can ride up and down the fucking escalator all day if that's how you want to spend your time, but get the fuck out of my way, I've got a train to catch.

I'm a big guy, I like standing in the middle so that people can't get by me. I put my hands on both rails too. You'll live the 5 extra seconds it takes to go up or down.

@4, 5, and 12,

Kill yourselves.

@10 because some fuckhead dipshit gutter lickers think that the world revolves around them and they have every right to impede the way of any other person because they shouldn't be in a hurry.

I have often pondered that society would be much more polite if everyone was allowed one free open handed slap to a person, once a year. Just follow that dick doing 53 in the fast lane to his destination and pimp slap him in from of his ugly wife and stupid children. Kirkland bimbette chatting on the phone and turning right from the far left lane across 3 lanes of traffic? she wouldn't do it again if all the people she cut off lined up for a free whap to the cheek.

Sure, it would be weird at first, but after a while they would learn. Some people will never learn without some traumatic violence to sear it into the brain.

@12 I'm a big guy too, and I like loudly announcing to everyone within earshot the stupid actions taken by people. Sure, you have every right to act like a dick just like I have every right to call you a douchebag in my best drill sergeant voice.

@12, 15 - I'm a big guy, and I also like to openly antagonize strangers out of spite.

People are too busy looking at their fucking phones. This will not help at all.

@9, 12, etc: you obviously need to see the mile-long escalators in DC (dear sweet god!) or Boston. Those are not always walkable, nor do they take a minute, but people stand to one side politely because people in larger cities know how to comport themselves in public space with civility.

Take the stairs and exercise those gluts. Or complain and get fat.

I'm Andy Rooney.

You know what really ticks me off? The way people ride escalators. It seems I can't take one trip up or down an escalator without finding a person standing in my way. Don't they know the rule? Stand on the left and walk on the right.

And another thing. Have you driven up I-90 lately? Everyone is driving 60 miles per hour in the left lane. There's more cars crowded on the left than the right! What's the world coming to? I fought in World War II. And this is what our country turns into?

I'm Andy Rooney, and I'm cranky this morning. Thank you.

What I see more often are four beefy people abreast on the bike path when there is a dedicated walking path ten feet away, and they get all pissy when THEY ALMOST GET HIT by a bicycle trying to get home.

As a motorcyclist, I'm over-sensitive to the behavior of cars around me, so @20's observation about cel phones is spot on. People are checked out from responding to others, and this is the broader problem.

If people can't follow the law on the highway (Keep Right Except While Passing) or comply with the frequent, explicit signs on the path around Green Lake, what makes anyone think they are going to pick up on this subtle indication of courteous behavior?

It's common courtesy - nothing more. The people who break this rule (or linger in doorways, or stop and talk on crowded walkways at public events, or any of the other self-absorbed, clueless, traffic jamming behavior we see every day, are simply too rude to acknowledge the humanity of those around them.

If fatties like @12 wanna keep on fattin' on the escalator, let 'em. I'll be on my way up the stairs.