Do you notice when a person rides his bike or takes a walk daily?

Our next door neighbor runs almost every day. If I am outside or near the front window, I notice. We have a few other people who are dog walkers and power walkers. I notice them, but couldn’t tell you where they live.

When I say notice, I mean that I see they are there. On occasion, I think, “Good for you!” or “I should be doing that.” If I’m driving down the road and pass someone, I might notice a bright color that they’re wearing or a cool sweatshirt. I don’t notice their bodies or how they’re moving. Mostly, I’m impressed that they’re trying to do something that’s good for them.

I think that some people will notice and some won’t. Who cares?

Oh yeah, I notice my neighbors, people in my work strip mall, etc…, and of course when they have dogs I have to talk to them.
My friend and I walk on our lunch each day, and based on the number of ‘friends’ we make and co-workers who try to run us down laughing, I know we’ve been noticed.

@marinelife – Who cares? The person with body image issues cares. The person who doesn’t want to be yelled at with words like “fatty,” “lardass,” and “slob.” The person who has been so harshly judged because of their size that it has left them scarred and shamed. That’s who cares.

Unless you mean the observers, in which case, those who are incredibly thoughtless, mean or rude might care. Though, in my opinion, with some observers it’s less that they care and more that they are inconsiderate, nasty, mean jerks.

People notice that stuff all the time.

When I was in my late twenties, I worked with a woman who lived near me when I was in second grade. She remembered the boy who walked by her house every day in his school uniform of flannel shorts and a blue blazer. That was me!

Oh yes. We have a neighbour that takes a walk about 11, then his dog for a walk at 1.15 and then a quick walk just before 5.

^Oh, great. You even notice the time of day for each walk @Headhurts .

I tend to notice routines.

I don’t know the guy who rides his bike every day – where he lives, what he’s doing – but I do count on him coming by every day, about 8:30 AM. Yellow shirt with sponsor patches, black shorts, white helmet, red bike frame.

He waves at me and smiles if I happen to be on my bike as well when he passes, but I have an awful memory for faces. If I saw the guy in his own front yard in a different outfit, I’d never know it was him.

I want to be invisible. But it sounds like everyone is taking notes of who walks, when and what they’re wearing.

Unfortunately you can’t be invisible. Which is a good thing.

At least in my neighborhood, where there are no bike lanes on the roads and no sidewalks, it’s good to get the people who have their daily routines used to you being on the road at a certain time. That way, I’m not putting uphill around a sharp bend in the road when someone decides it’s drag-racing time. They know to look for the morning bicyclers.

@Aster – No one is taking notes! They’re just observing. Not criticizing, just saying – “Oh, there goes that guy again.” No one has said anything that sounds judgmental.

Well, the kitchen is on the front, and I’m normally in there at those times, so easy to notice. I don’t know when the other neighbours go by.

Yes, I did notice that, growing up. There were always “regulars”. If I or someone else in my family was outside in the front at the time, we’d say “hi” to people we saw regularly. I don’t think anyone was taking note of their weight or their clothes or their looks, though.

(I also remember when I was younger seeing a middle-aged women go by on her bike every day and she looked emaciated; my mom explained to a young me that she was anorexic, something I had never heard of).

@Aster Why invisible? You should be proud of yourself for helping take care of your body. And you can make friends, get a little sunshine, & clear your head.

Some of my neighbors are very overweight, and they walk or ride bikes as a family, and I only have admiration for them for trying to get more fit.

I need a disguise. I have a pink baseball cap and big sunglasses.

@aster I am normally looking out the window, I don’t give him a second look. It doesn’t bother me one way or another what he does. I do look at his dog though. Anything else doesn’t interest me. I go out in my bike probably the same times each day, I’m sure loads of people see me if they are looking out their window.

@Aster I’d look at you more closely if I didn’t recognize you- hahaha!

@Aster – Are you actually a celebrity and that’s why you want to be invisible? The pink baseball cap won’t help anything for invisibility. Too bright. That and sunglasses would make me suspicious and I would be sure to pay attention. (Keep in mind, I work for a bank and have been trained that a hat and sunglasses can be a disguise for a robber.)

@tedibear Strangely, I wouldn’t care at all if someone thought of me as a robber or other kind of criminal. People around here do not get together, do not walk up to other peoples’ doors , do not talk in the yards. But I bet they look out windows, darn it. And the baseball cap is light pink; not bright.

@Aster What do you mean they don’t talk or anything, with their neighbors? Is it a big city or something? I can’t imagine not knowing the people living down the road or something, they’re like family here.

@Aster I never told you this before but I live across the street from you. I’m looking at you right now through the window. You’re wearing a white top. Tell me I’m wrong.

@KNOWITALL It is a small, gated , mostly retirement community ten miles from an actual small city. Being like family would be very nice but from what I read it’s rare nowadays.

@FutureMemory The blinds are shut and yes, I’m wearing a white tee. lol

Told you!!!!

What color bottoms am I wearing?

Light blue.

Wrong.

Darn it all. I could of really had you going.

@FutureMemory “Ma’am, don’t be alarmed, but the call originates from INSIDE the home!”

Next Aster will be getting strange phone calls asking her when she’s going to go out for another walk or bike ride!

@tedibear I have been called names. I do not let them bother me. It gives them too much power.

@FutureMemory Funny remark. They won’t do that but they’ll be watching me from their windows, some of them, then start to make it a habit to look out the same time each day to see if I’m there. I hate that.

If you’re dead-set, you could do a few walks in the beginning at different times of the day, and get a feel for when the fewest people on your route are home.

Alternately, is there a park near you with a nice nature trail?

^^^^^ No; no nature trails. And there is no way I could ever figure out when someone is home or not. Big houses; two car garages. Nope.

Well, if they’re big houses built in the last 15 years, the kitchens likely overlook the back yard, and the only front-facing rooms are the family room, which no one ever actually sits in. You’re in the clear.

LOL! What a deep thinker !

I remember there was this fat dude I saw jog down the street every morning for years. I always noticed him because I wondered why he never got any thinner.

I know what you mean. He probably came in and ate too much. Poor guy.

Nah I don’t notice. Which is odd since I live in a tiny squished up place where if I sit in my garden anyone else in their garden is an arm breadth away. I hate it!