Slow down without announcing it
Matching someone's pace is easy. Doing it without commenting on it is what preserves their dignity.
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The BeingKind editorsPublished How this is written
Why it lands
Being slow is bearable; being visibly waited for is not. The announcements — “take your time”, the theatrical pause, the offered arm — convert a walk into a demonstration of someone's decline, performed in public. Simply walking slower and finding a reason to stop that has nothing to do with them achieves the same thing without the commentary.
How
Set off slower than you need to. If you need a pause, invent your own reason — a shoelace, a shop window, a phone call. Offer an arm only if they reach for one, and stand on the side of the traffic or the uneven curb without mentioning why.
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