Careless couples are turning the streets of NYC into a coronavirus obstacle course.
From spring breakers to handsy Elmos, many COVIDIOTS have been torched online over their refusal to practice social-distancing precautions on city sidewalks. The latest source of Twitter outrage: “couple-spreaders,” who walk two-abreast, forcing other pedestrians to potentially expose themselves to the coronavirus while passing by.
“Couples walking need to learn sidewalk etiquette,” fumed one Twitter user of oblivious lovebirds who refuse to stroll single-file. “I promise you won’t die letting go of your partner’s hand for 10-15 seconds and walking behind each other to let someone get by you.” Currently, scientists advise people to stay at least 6 feet apart to avoid spreading the disease.
“Please catch the first of a 15-part livestream tutorial tonight where I show couples how to walk single file on the sidewalk,” snarked another tweeter.
One exasperated tweeter recounted her experience with an especially selfish pair of sidewalk hogs: “Yes, an obnoxious couple came up behind me yesterday, making NO effort to make space for me,” she posted. “Then, I moved into a parking lot to let THEM pass, and they SMILED IN GRATITUDE. The LONE person, making room for THEIR ROYAL ASSES. F - - k them!”
It’s not just COVIDIOTIC couple-spreaders that are causing Twitter tempers to flare. “My fave: two people standing 6 feet apart, on opposite sides of a path, forcing everyone else to go between them,” griped another social-media etiquette coach. “I’ve literally stopped and asked people to rearrange themselves so I don’t have to run the gauntlet.”
Another groused, “There are two people in my neighborhood who like to stand, inert, on a walking bridge, staring at the water so NO ONE can get past without all but touching them. I . . . don’t like them.”
Another subspecies of couple-spreaders includes the Times Square tourist brigade who likes to walk five abreast, forcing passersby to play COVID Red Rover to circumvent the disease-spreading daisy chain.
Daily Beast writer Tim Teeman dedicated a column to “couple-spreading” and other sidewalk infractions in NYC, which he attributes to certain individuals’ need to occupy the newfound space that opened up during lockdown: “For some reason, instead of everyone using this new space around us in a way that can be safe and enjoyable, a thoughtless few are turning it into a nightmare game of hopscotch, or a crazy game of Frogger and Pac-Man for the rest of us,” he writes.
Fortunately, he’s provided a potential antidote: “Couples and groups, go single-file. There, you see: It works. The sidewalk can flow in glorious harmony. Well done, you’re finally living in the city.”
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