Sidewalk

We spent class Wednesday talking about Kerouac, Ginsberg and the rest of the beat generation’s desire to belong to a subculture that deviated from the norms established by society.  I have to admit that it’s hard for me to totally grasp their need to do so.  I have never really been the type to contradict rules, regulations and norms just for the sake of being different.  I tend to follow the guidelines for no other reason than “just because”.  But while walking back from class Wednesday I was making my way down the sidewalk when I got stuck behind a group of people walking at a particularly slow pace.  In my head I was like “Oh great. It’s gonna take me longer to get back to my dorm.  I have so much stuff to do.”  And then it occurred to me, I don’t have to walk on the sidewalk.  I know it’s silly because of course you can walk around, but I almost never step off the sidewalk.  I follow the grid-like pattern that weaves and winds through the grass.  It reminded me of our discussion when we were talking about the group of men who were driving down back roads to avoid traffic.  Though they still followed a pre-determined set of roads, they did not allow themselves to be constricted by the normalcy and patterned way of thinking that most others did.  Stepping off the sidewalk was a way of stepping outside of the norm.