Anyone engaged in discussion on the state of American health, and subsequently, obesity, must necessarily consider how little most American’s walk on a daily basis. Certainly, with most households having more than one car and with road systems constantly being developed and improved, driving offers a very convenient way to get from point to point. Most Americans hate to walk any longer than they absolutely must. This is never more evident than in the Wal-Mart parking lot, where vehicles circle endlessly in the parking lot, their drivers craning necks in search of that elusive opening—the one right next to the handicap spot. I postulate that there must be a positive correlation between the number of minutes searching for closer parking and the number of motorized scooters needed to cart around people that have become too heavy to comfortably traverse the retail bonanza that occurs on any given Saturday around the country.
A bastion of walking culture exists, however, at military bases around the country. Not from a lofty, well-intentioned desire to cut down on an epidemic of obesity, but rather for one simple reason: necessity. Military bases, and more specifically military bases where primary training occurs, have lots of junior and transient personnel. In most cases it is neither expedient, nor affordable, for everyone to rent vehicles. Instead, a steady stream of brisk walkers can be seen, day and night, going to and fro. Whether it’s a half-mile walk to the training building from the barracks, or a quarter-mile trek off the base to the Navy Exchange, there are always people passing each other on foot. Neither cold, nor heat, deter them. Rain, snow, blistering wind—it doesn’t seem to matter—again because of necessity. If the choice between going to work or not, eating or not, running errands or not, comes down to walking or not, then we walk. It’s just that simple.
What have I spent much of my week engaged in? Walking, of course. Admittedly, it is less convenient, and most assuredly colder—bitterly colder—than walking. However, it quickly becomes the order of the day, an activity as grounded in routine as waking up and brushing my teeth. Naturally, it brings challenges not considered by most. If walking off the base to the Exchange for some shopping, dinner, and a movie, then what order should I knock that off in? Consider purchasing items from multiple stores, and hitting up a movie that ends well after the stores close. Other stores, restaurants, and movie theaters would just have to accommodate my carrying various shopping bags or a backpack with me everywhere I go. While seen as a security risk at most places, it is a fact of life where walkers exist. I have taken to always having my “trunk” with me, since I don’t have the convenience of the one that came with my car.
And so, if ever wondering in what ways life in the military differs from its civilian counterpart, consider the lost culture of walking—not walking as an end in and of itself, but walking in its original, pure form, as transportation. It still happens, even in America.