A Brisk Stroll Through Grant Park & The Significance of “Disregard”

Reflection and Connection to “Disregard” in Relation to the Solitary Urban Walker

In “Handmade Time Machines”, an article by Giles Turnbull, the phrase “They disregard me”, and variations of phrases involving busy people “disregarding” the narrator is constantly being thrown around. What does this mean? The meaning of disregard is simply to ignore or give little attention to something. Regarding something, would mean the opposite; to pay attention to something in particular, or express concern for someone or something specific. The significance of this phrase in my eyes is more of a humanistic observation. We, as humans busy ourselves with tasks ranging from eating to survive to picking up dry cleaning, to taking care of responsibilities handed to us as the ripeness of our age degrades. All of these people disregarding each other in order to accomplish their own “To-Do Lists” and personal agendas relate to the description of the solitary urban walker by showing that his own observations are being disregarded by the busyness that the people around him are occupying themselves in. It holds significance in that his mission is to observe and “uncover the city’s secrets” which are disregarded by the people that are paying attention to only their own personal development with ignorance for the same species beings around them doing a variation of the same things.