As a New Yorker, I tend to keep my head down. Apart from the times when I break down from cold or exhaustion and hail a cab, for the most part, I walk everywhere I go. My children in tow like little ducklings, my voice click clicking every now and then to grab their attention before we cross another intersection, or to make them aware of others in the opposite "lane" on the sidewalk. I am rarely ever alone. Within the confines of my apartment building with neighbors above and below and on both sides- and certainly not outside, where others, just like me, join the masses in coffee shops or subway cars, each of us on our way to somewhere.

So you see, what is often misinterpreted as rudeness or hurry is simply a commute. We brush past others with focused attention, head down in the business of getting places on our feet instead of behind a wheel. It's all we can do to avert our eyes and get a moment of peace.

The trouble with me is, I can often forget to look up again.