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Walking funny can make you a target for crime

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Al725
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09 May 2014, 5:32 am

IDK. I'm 6'3" and walk really fast with a semi strut. I rarely get messed with.



League_Girl
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09 May 2014, 9:21 am

This is all normal stuff to me because I grew up hearing all these following things "don't run from the teacher" 'Don't smell the paper" "Don't tease" "don't hide in the bushes" "no talking about (insert weird topic here)" "Don't take your money out" "don't leave your store bought item lying around" (in public), "watch my purse" "you're very lucky no one took you" (when I would wander off somewhere alone). And being told as an adult I shouldn't wander in strange places at night.

Now I am reading don't walk funny. I also remember hearing at six years old "Don't talk to strangers."


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ehymw
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09 May 2014, 2:33 pm

League_Girl wrote:
This is all normal stuff to me because I grew up hearing all these following things "don't run from the teacher" 'Don't smell the paper" "Don't tease" "don't hide in the bushes" "no talking about (insert weird topic here)" "Don't take your money out" "don't leave your store bought item lying around" (in public), "watch my purse" "you're very lucky no one took you" (when I would wander off somewhere alone). And being told as an adult I shouldn't wander in strange places at night.

Now I am reading don't walk funny. I also remember hearing at six years old "Don't talk to strangers."


Difference is in this case research has actually found that walking a certain way actually does attract predators.

We should use this research to our advantage.



diablo77
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09 May 2014, 3:23 pm

I've read this too and I have odd movements so I've wondered if it makes me vulnerable!



Janissy
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09 May 2014, 5:21 pm

GiantHockeyFan wrote:
I just saw an article on Cracked today (my second favourite website!) and it mentioned this as well. I have NO DOUBT that my 'odd posture and gait' as a teenager is what attracted the nasty bullies to me and everyone else just played along. Since I corrected my posture, I have never been bothered once. Being 6'6" helps too!


Why yes, Cracked did their own unique writeup on this story.

Quote:
A group of researchers discovered this by secretly filming three days' worth of people walking through a high-risk neighborhood. They then showed their creepy stalker tapes to a group of prisoners, and asked them who looked like the easiest targets for crime. After the cons made their selections, researchers studied the tapes again, breaking down each person's movement style through 21 different categories. By and large, non-victims walked with medium strides, moved their body contra-laterally, and swung their feet instead of lifting them. In other words, "normal" walking. Anybody with a shuffling, nervous, uncertain, skipping, backwards, or otherwise "weird" gait was mugger bait.


Photodisc/Photodisc/Getty Images

Rookie mistake. No skipping adult has any money in the first place.

So there you go: Just walk totally normally and you'll be fine. No, normally. That's ... not how you usually walk, right? Well, now you're thinking about how you walk -- don't do that. Oh God, so many muggers are coming for you right now. For the love of God, get those knees up!


So an odd gait says "easy victim" to a mugger. Weird walking is a crime magnet. But weird driving is a crime deterrent.
Quote:
Car thieves, like most thieves, are opportunistic. They want to find the easiest car to steal that will net them the most money when they offload it. If they jack a bright purple and neon green Taurus, they're going to have to repaint it before anybody wants the damn thing (also, it'll be quite a bit more noticeable when the cops are looking for it). Why not just walk two blocks down and steal the gray Taurus there? It'll blend in far easier, get them more money, and they won't have to roll around town in a car that looks like the Predator lost a fight with Grimace.


So if you get a car, make it really idiosyncratic looking and it is less likely to be stolen. Sometimes weirdness pays.
http://www.cracked.com/article_21197_5- ... t-you.html



AardvarkGoodSwimmer
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09 May 2014, 7:14 pm

Now, what might help is an acting coach. Someone who could respectfully study tapes of you walking, take their time, not jump to conclusions. And then show you tapes of people walking, and get you to focus on a few body feelings or motions. Just like learning to snow ski, three physical motions is a lot to focus on at the same time. It's better to focus on only one or two at a time if you can.

And then probably practicing everyday watched by the person coaching you, probably for a minimum of 21 days.

I mean, it's quite a project. And acting coaches are probably closest analogy.

And this would be done respectfully in small steps. Not herclean efforts in an abusive way.

And plus, be a good coach to yourself, too. :D