Do you have to look at stairs and steps when you walk up/down them?

[Shit Good Nose]

Never been able to walk up and down stairs or steps without looking at them - every time I try I always stumble.

Insanely jealous of people who can do it, and do it all the time without a care in the world.

What is it?  Some break in my brain-to-feet-and-legs synapses?  Habitual?

[im barry bethel]

If it's dark do you do that thing where your brain is expecting one last step but your legs discover there isn't one?

[Icehaven]

If I don't look at the stairs (and sometimes even when I do) I have to suddenly stop and think about which foot needs to go next as my co-ordination just goes for some reason. And that's the real reason I always take the lift if I can, I'm just being careful.

[Shit Good Nose]

If it's dark do you do that thing where your brain is expecting one last step but your legs discover there isn't one?

Yep, and come down hard when I expect there to NOT be another one when there is.  I normally have to feel for something (light switches are the best indicators in our house), or use some form of light.

And then you get those cunts who RUN up or down without looking.  RUN!!

I don't know how people do it.

[Space ghost]

They say a major cause of elderly people falling over is that they expect to fall over. Therefore you should tackle flights of steps with alacrity. Really attack those stairs.

[BlodwynPig]

I've got no perspective due to the eye problems so it can be difficult, especially when rushed, e.g. underground stations. I always move my foot tentatively towards the edge of the top step to feel where the edge is and then I can go down, same with bottom step.

[Norton Canes]

Of course I look at them, how else am I supposed to work out whether I'm going to get to the top of the flight with a double left foot step? I mean obviously with the staircases I use a lot I know instinctively how to start off but otherwise it's counting all the way. 

[BlodwynPig]

*Michael Peterson waits patiently at the top of the thread with a fire poke and a grin*

[Icehaven]

They say a major cause of elderly people falling over is that they expect to fall over.

Hmm, maybe they only got old because they expected to as well. I will avoid that then as I absolutely don't expect to get old. 

[Rocket Surgery]

[tag]Macy Gray leaves thread crestfallen at not getting a mention[/tag]

[imitationleather]

A couple of weeks ago I was merrily walking up a flight of stairs without a care in the world. Totally stacked it. I was like, "Eh, I'm a notorious hypochondriac. It's probably nothing." Within hours my entire arm had turned purple and doubled in size (which was nice, because for once in my life I felt quite beefy, albeit in an arm I could no longer move) and I was forced to go to A&E by people quite concerned about my welfare. Fractured my humerus and the impact sent the knackered bone into my shoulder socket, hadn't it? Pain is too small a word. Too, too small a word. At first they reckoned I definitely needed surgery but fortunately I dodged that bullet. Just got to wait for it to heal and see if I will be able to move it about like I used to.

From now on it's stairlifts or nothing for me. You don't see Mariah Carey with a completely fucked arm, do you? No you do not. She has the right idea.

To make matters worse it's both my darts and snooker arm. I had such a promising burgeoning career in both as well.

SILVER LINING: It's not my wanking arm, nor is it the one I use to wipe me arse. Small mercies.

[Jockice]

They say a major cause of elderly people falling over is that they expect to fall over. Therefore you should tackle flights of steps with alacrity. Really attack those stairs.

The major cause of people injuring themselves when they fall is that they resist. Don't do it. Just relax. If you're going to go all stiff and try and stop yourself you'll get injured and it serves you right.

I fell almost all the way down a flight of stairs recently and didn't remotely hurt myself. I'm that cool.

[Large Noise]

I'm excellent on stairs, it's probably my best quality. I grew up with a lot of stairs and a lot of brothers. And you know what they say, steel sharpens steel.

[Ronalado]

If aggresor come towards you, is best to fall. If police is near, tell them. Aggressor in prison? IS JUSTICE

[gilbertharding]

When I'm going up, yes I look at the stairs - they're right in front of me. Not the literal step my feet are on though. As long as all the steps are the same, I know I can rely on my eyes, brain and feet to coordinate the walking action satisfactorily. If there is one, the handrail will provide an additional sensory cue about what the stairs are doing.

When I go down a staircase I guess I'll look down at the top step as I begin my descent. After that I rely on the same system as when I am ascending.

I'm sure one day I'll break my neck on a staircase, but until then I'm not wasting time.

/partridge

[gilbertharding]

I'm excellent on stairs, it's probably my best quality. I grew up with a lot of stairs and a lot of brothers. And you know what they say, steel sharpens steel.

I grew up in a bungalow due to a disabled parent, so I had very little concept of stairs - until a recent career malfunction caused me to spend three years as a balustrade designer. True story.

[imitationleather]

I never used to look at where I was going on staircases until I got that job at the owl sanctuary.

[Glebe]

I don't do stairs.

[MuteBanana]

I always do this weird thing of gripping the edge of the stairs with my toes when I walk down them.

[Noonling]

And then you get those cunts who RUN up or down without looking.  RUN!!

I feel so superior right now.

Perhaps I could give my body to science so they can inject other humans with the "two steps per stride while blindfolded" gene.

[Shit Good Nose]

I feel so superior right now.

Perhaps I could give my body to science so they can inject other humans with the "two steps per stride while blindfolded" gene.

You are a monster.

[Captain Z]

Ever do that thing when nobody is around where you take 1 stair in one stride, then 2, then 3, then 4...

[Bazooka]

For sure, I take the metro everyday here in Beijing, and there are so many people going down the stairs whilst watching some awful TV drama on their phone not even considering the steps, they just hover down or up.

[flotemysost]

Twice this week I've seen people trip/fall from descending escalators and draw blood - quite a worrying amount in the first instance, at the weekend, and I really hope he was OK.

The second instance was today, when the escalator I was on sort of leaned forward slightly (honestly - it was bizarre) then ground to a halt, causing one guy to trip up and cut his head.

So now even standing still isn't safe apparently.

[canadagoose]

Twice this week I've seen people trip/fall from descending escalators and draw blood - quite a worrying amount in the first instance, at the weekend, and I really hope he was OK.

The second instance was today, when the escalator I was on sort of leaned forward slightly (honestly - it was bizarre) then ground to a halt, causing one guy to trip up and cut his head.

So now even standing still isn't safe apparently.

Jeez, where's that? Sounds pretty worrying.