What do you do when the world stops?

No, not “ends”, “stops”.

It happens to me every Wednesday at 5:23 PM EST, just as I’m leaving work. Since nothing moves or works except for yours truly, I’m not sure how long it lasts but I’d say about 15 minutes. I didn’t even notice the first time it happened for the first initial minutes, as I was busy typing an email then cursing at my blackberry for freezing up on me, the latter part while crossing a street on a red light (since I hadn’t heard any incoming traffic, I crossed with the all the aplomb of a self-centered information-age pedestrian).

That’s when I realized I wasn’t hearing anything else but my footsteps.