The perils of walking slow: scientists analyze sidewalk rage

I don't think this is fair on the so-called "ragers". F'rinstance here in London we really do get people who will ride the escalator to the bottom, step off and just stop, seemingly oblivious to the fact that there is a conveyor mechanism directly behind them delivering a stream people to just where they're now standing.

Of course they know, they've got all the senses of everyone else. They're just self-absorbed, and don't care that they're being rude by getting in the way. There's no reasoning with such people; a shove is the only language they understand.

Or people who will stand right in the doorway of a train when people are getting on and off, rather than stepping to one side (or even off the train altogether, people will always let them get back on first). These people have made their choice, it's just attention seeking really. However the London commuter is not a shy species...

Or people who will stand on the left, despite clearly being able to see that no-one else is, even if they can't read the clear signs in English. Again it's not rude to push them out of the way; they started it.

This is a case of one group of self-absorbed people intersecting with another group of self-absorbed people. As the article points out, the ragers make up their own perceived rules, and so do the slow people. "I have the right to be here..." "People should be courteous, as I define it..." There is plenty of narcissism to go around with this kind of thing.

Closely related:

Checkout-Line Rage: When you empty your shopping cart with only one hand because you're on the phone. When you don't step forward to enable the next person to emply her cart. When you take 27 items through the express line. When you pay by credit/debit/check/etc. and don't know how. When you use coupons.

Movie Theater Rage: When you enter the theater 5 minutes after the movie started and complain you can't find a seat. When you talk during the movie. When you text during the movie. When you bring your baby. When you put your feet on my chair, next to my head. When you say, "Here comes the scene where the car hits him!"

Neighbor Rage: When your yard sale visitors block my driveway. When your idiot kid shovels your snow onto my driveway. When your dog shits on my lawn. When you play any Rick Astley song while you wash your car.

Work Rage: When you put the empty coffee pot on a hot burner. When you leave your fish sandwich in the refrigerator for 3 weeks. When you touch every donut just to see what they are. When you buy the last Snickers from the vending machine. When you wear too much fragrence. When you bitch about others wearing too much fragrence.

Previous Programmer Rage: When you name all your variables x, xx, xxx, and xxxx. When you have the exact same code 9 times in the same program and I only changed 8 of them. When you document anything 4 different places, all of them differently. When you promote your code before bothering to test for outlying cases. When you don't sign your work so I don't know who to bitch about.

"If everyone were perfectly courteous" = "If everyone lived by the same rules I live by" = "If everyone had the same notion of respect as I"

It is difficult for people to agree, not only across cultures but within the same culture, with what is considered socially correct. Don't get me wrong: I am a large believer in courtesy. I share your vision that there is a lack of efficiency, that a few people can affect a large number of people. I see it all the time in traffic jams. On the sidewalk, I try to let people pass; I feel it is not only nice but also more efficient.

However, getting angry over someone else not doing the same as I would do... That is just ego speaking. My way is not the only way or necessarily truly the best way, whatever my rationalization to suit my sense of self-righteousness.