MONTREAL, FROM A FIFTH-FLOOR CORNICE ABOVE SAINT-DENIS STREET — Local man Dan Walker, 34, successfully concealed the fact that he had been walking in the wrong direction Tuesday by checking his phone before turning around.
Walker reportedly realized he had missed his destination approximately half a block earlier but continued walking for several seconds to avoid making what witnesses described as an “obvious panic turn.”
“I couldn’t just stop and go back,” Walker said. “That would make it look like I didn’t know where I was going.”
Instead, Walker slowed his pace, removed his phone from his pocket and stared at the screen for roughly six seconds despite having no new notifications.
He then frowned slightly.
According to Walker, the frown was important.
“It suggests new information,” he said. “Like something changed.”
Walker next looked up the street, nodded once and turned around.
Witnesses confirmed the maneuver appeared completely intentional.
“I assumed he had just received a message telling him to go somewhere else,” said pedestrian Rachel Morris. “I had no idea he was lost.”
Walker said he has used similar techniques in the past, including checking his watch, pretending to recognize a building and briefly looking concerned about the weather.
Experts say millions of pedestrians perform comparable maneuvers every year rather than risk letting strangers know they made a minor navigational error.
Walker eventually reached his destination nine minutes later.
He said no one appeared to suspect anything.
