Walking etiquette

4 comments

1. >When crossing the road, should you stay by her left or right side? There are vehicle traffic on both sides.

   It doesn’t matter. I’ve never met someone who cared or even though about left or right positions.

   >As a gentleman, when walking with a lady on a narrow path which fits two, where should you dart to upon approaching incoming human traffic?

   Feel free to walk in front or in back of her. Whichever is the least awkward. Also, I’m assuming English is your second language here as your original question is constructed awkwardly.

2. As a gentleman, you should position yourself between the lady and other traffic. This means on a sidewalk you’re next to the road.

3. I daresay you are overthinking things a bit, my good fellow.

   edit: seriously though you should find three other Gentlemen and carry her around on a litter.

4. The victorian standard was to be between the lady and what would cause the most damage either to her clothing or herself, protecting them from both mental (embarrassment from ruined clothes) and physical damage.

   During re-enactments (in my case frontier days and a few civil war demonstrations) the rule is a gentleman stands between the lady and stopped traffic.

   So if you are at a stoplight and need to cross the road the gentleman stands between the vehicles waiting for the light to change and the lady. There is time to react to the vehicles further away as the closest they are seen as the ones capable of doing the most damage because there is less time to react.

   If she is leading you somewhere and there is no room to walk next to her then you walk behind her but maintain an arm’s length from her so you don’t risk bumping into her if she needs to stop suddenly. Give enough room that if she has to take a step back towards you that she can.

   You would walk in front of her in a crowded area to help create a path for her to walk safely. Some are comfortable with the gentleman reaching a hand behind them for the lady to hold so they do not get separated and if something is wrong the lady can just tug on the hand they are holding. Others are not that comfortable or not coordinated enough to do so if they are having to ensure nothing happens to their outfit or if their shoes are not as steady as they expected them to be. Then continue to check on them and if needed slow your pace to be two steps in front of them.

   As a kid, some of us girls got to play the part of young boys (stable boys, soldiers children, or if you could prove you could do it shoe shiners things like that) and those were the rules to follow for anybody in a dress. I’ve also used the crowd part for friends who only figure out the heels they wore were not a good choice until after we get to a concert or show.

   Look up Chris Evans helping Regina King for stairs etiquette as well. The almost straight arm to hold her weight like a handrail, hand closed and turned away from the woman as well as walking with her but not crowding her. We have it saved in multiple places to show anybody we need to teach about it since dressing up in period appropriate outfits doesn’t always mean the person wearing them understands all the ways they need to adjust how they carry themselves.