Chicks with Sticks
In Basel, it has become de rigeur to see brusque women of a certain age stomping with along the Rhine sporting the latest in menopausal chic - the Nordic Walking Stick.
In the US, these ladies with their HRT patch and their practical salt-and-pepper “do” would be power-walking around the local mall in their Rockports and knee-grazing shorts from Lands End. Ridiculous in their own way to be sure, but these Swiss chicks have got ‘em beat (with a stick).
With nary a mountain, hill, or even a small ramp in sight, you can see packs of them swinging wildly along with wanton disregard for anything - or anyone - in their path in some sort of demented Ester Williams synchronized-stick brigade. Sure, they probably help burn extra calories and could possibly be useful in picking up stray debris (would that there was any) but I think I speak for many when I say: Ladies, it is time to put down the sticks and slowly back away.