Prewalking
December 16th, 2006 by quaisiIf you're new here, you may want to subscribe to my RSS feed. Thanks for visiting!
I was introduced to the concept of prewalking by an American sometime in late 2005 although I didn’t know it by that name.
Prewalking is defined by UrbanDictionary.com as:
To position oneself on a subway platform such that, when the passenger steps off the train at his destination, he’ll be as close as possible to the exit or stairs to his transfer.
With daily train journeys that often last more than an hour each way, this is more of a necessity. I know in which carriage to sit for most of the journeys to the various schools I have to teach at in Osaka.
Who knew being lazy had a name?
Prewalking via Remaindered links weblog
Posted in Japan, Life in Japan |
December 17th, 2006 at 9:26 am
Doesn’t everyone do this? I always considered it a mark of knowing my station (departure) and destinations well.
The somewhat chaotic, and at times (I’m thinking of Shinjuku) downright thunderdome-ish, nature of train stations here makes me want to minimize my actual times in the stations. I must admit that I get a bit of perverse pleasure from seeing the bottom of the escalator come slowly into view through the train doors.
It’s the little things, I guess.
December 17th, 2006 at 12:30 pm
Your post reminded me about a book called “The Way Out Tube Map”, for travelling on the London Underground.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Way-Out-Tube-Map/dp/images/1899743014
December 29th, 2006 at 9:31 am
Why do I do this as well, even though I know it save me almost no time at all. Like 30sec a day. And yet I often forget to shuffle my schedule which saves a few hours a week.
In Tokyo they even put a list up on the wall, so you can workout how to save 30 seconds even if you are going to a station you have not been to before.
December 29th, 2006 at 10:33 am
I’ve done prewalking for years, here in Boston. I always go to the last car, which drops me right by the steps when I get to my home station.