Go back

Friends social distance by walking in giant “body walls” occupying whole sidewalk

Vancouverites block disease by blocking all living things from getting to their destinations

Written by Zach Siddiqui, Humour Editor

VANCOUVER, BC — An increasing number of Vancouverites are keeping contact to a minimum by forming “body walls” as they walk down the street, repelling others who might approach.

“No one will bother coming near us if we destroy all hope of pedestrian movement in this direction,” says Rudy Walker. 

Body walls are traditionally formed by assembling a group of friends to walk in a horizontal line, connecting the two sides of the sidewalk. The body wall phenomenon, according to health experts, can happen “anywhere infested with self-serving, Tindered-out millennials” and therefore especially in the Yaletown region of Vancouver. COVID-19 has only exacerbated the problem; the six-foot rule means that body walls can reach a breadth of 30 feet.

“Last week we actually had a stare-off with an opposing body wall,” said Tati Lespich, a member of Walker’s six-person unit. “Very Romeo and Juliet, or as Rudy put it, Red Rover: Pandemic Edition. We made it through all right, but we lost Ken to those bastards.”

Ken Cushion, the friend in question, told The Peak in an email interview that he was safely at home, recovering from a migraine. He had bumped into someone from the other friend group and fallen, hitting his head. He attributed his absence of mind, which led to the incident, to everyone else on the sidewalk being beneath his notice. 

In the meantime, Walker and his remaining friends have continued their circuit along Vancouver’s breeziest waterside walking paths. At press time, at least three joggers had been absorbed into the body wall, never to be seen again.

Was this article helpful?
0
0

Leave a Reply

Block title

SFU to retain contract worker model for cleaning, despite calls for in-house employment

By: Lucaiah Smith-Miodownik, News Writer Content warning: mention of death.  For the last 15 years, SFU has outsourced its janitorial services through BEST Service Pros, meaning cleaning staff are not directly employed by the university. This decision to outsource labour has been met with notable and continued pushback. The SFU coalition, Contract Worker Justice (CWJ), organized a rally in late 2024 to advocate for in-house contracting of janitorial and food service work. SFU food service workers, employed by Compass Group Canada, led bargaining efforts in 2025 for livable wages by their employer. These organized protests call for the university to in-source and directly employ these staff.  Advocacy for this shift was amplified in July 2025, when Kulbir Kaila died during a cleaning shift at SFU. Coworkers later came...

Read Next

Block title

SFU to retain contract worker model for cleaning, despite calls for in-house employment

By: Lucaiah Smith-Miodownik, News Writer Content warning: mention of death.  For the last 15 years, SFU has outsourced its janitorial services through BEST Service Pros, meaning cleaning staff are not directly employed by the university. This decision to outsource labour has been met with notable and continued pushback. The SFU coalition, Contract Worker Justice (CWJ), organized a rally in late 2024 to advocate for in-house contracting of janitorial and food service work. SFU food service workers, employed by Compass Group Canada, led bargaining efforts in 2025 for livable wages by their employer. These organized protests call for the university to in-source and directly employ these staff.  Advocacy for this shift was amplified in July 2025, when Kulbir Kaila died during a cleaning shift at SFU. Coworkers later came...

Block title

SFU to retain contract worker model for cleaning, despite calls for in-house employment

By: Lucaiah Smith-Miodownik, News Writer Content warning: mention of death.  For the last 15 years, SFU has outsourced its janitorial services through BEST Service Pros, meaning cleaning staff are not directly employed by the university. This decision to outsource labour has been met with notable and continued pushback. The SFU coalition, Contract Worker Justice (CWJ), organized a rally in late 2024 to advocate for in-house contracting of janitorial and food service work. SFU food service workers, employed by Compass Group Canada, led bargaining efforts in 2025 for livable wages by their employer. These organized protests call for the university to in-source and directly employ these staff.  Advocacy for this shift was amplified in July 2025, when Kulbir Kaila died during a cleaning shift at SFU. Coworkers later came...