Walk Like a Huh?

We all know that appearance is only one part of passing.  How you walk, how you talk, mannerisms, facial expressions, are added to how you look to give people the impression that you are what you appear to be.

Many aspects are foreign to me, and I'm working on each.  I mean, I spent most of my life acting in a certain way and now I need to change that.  It's like being told "now you must blend in with French society."  There's a lot more to that than just living in Paris. 

One of the keys (to me) is walk. My voice will probably give me away at close quarters, but my walk can be seen way down the block (or the beach) and I try to keep my steps short, feet more in front of each other and so forth.

It's kind of the opposite of power walking.

You've seen power walking.  The guys who have wrist and ankle weights.  Elbows are at almost a ninety degree angle.  Upper arms are at about a 45 degree angle from the body and lower arms are in front of the body, fists usually clenched.  As they stride, moving their feet like they're on hot coals, their arms swing left-to-right instead of front-to-back.  Their whole upper body sways as they move.

As I was walking down the beach, doing my best small-step-small-hip-swing-feet-lining-up walk a power-walker came toward me.  Well, not exactly a power-walker, but someone who walked just like a power-walker.  With a group of people who were walking, let's call it "normally."  One had a walk that looked like it was made to stand out.

And as they walked past I wondered "how come she can walk like that and not get clocked?"

And that's my new joke when I'm reminded to "walk like a girl."  Arms out, fists clenched, elbows crooked, GO!

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