[Nomentatus]

I'm Canadian. You wouldn't think that would be very different from the U.S., but... when I first visited the U.S. as an adult (Boston), I had to change my gait IMMEDIATELY. I was a fast walker, and had been trained as an actor to hit toe first "for better energy" - that is, to appear more energetic on stage. Trouble is, that makes you quieter, and Americans in the Eastern US back then simply assumed that anyone gaining on them quickly and quietly from behind was probably a mugger. Pedestrian after pedestrian after pedestrian would whirl around to look at me in a startled way, even during the day, nevermind at night. So I learned to thump my heels down noisily for my stay and that eliminated the problem. I could walk fast without frightening anybody, as long as I was conspicuously loud about it.

[andrewem]

Noisily thumping along is also a way to get people who are walking slower and blocking your path on busy Boston-area sidewalks to notice your presence and move out of the way.

[im3w1l]

I kick gravel or scrape the ground with my shoe every once in a while at night to make my presence known.

[thinkingemote]

Have you noticed others scuffing their shoes in response? I do. I'm almost sure it's some kind of unconscious communication going on.

[dspig]

Maybe there is something similar with coughing. There definitely is with yawning.

[im3w1l]

No I haven't.

[PhasmaFelis]

I wouldn't think you were a mugger, it's just startling when there's suddenly someone behind/next to you when you thought you were alone.

[Nomentatus]

Yet Canadians weren't startled at all by the same walking style at that time - or so rarely I'd never noticed.

[matt_the_bass]

That’s a great cultural example.