Walking Observations/Thoughts

Just as I got onto the footpath that leads out of the office park, two ladies entered the path just ahead of me. My first instinct was that I would soon overtake and pass them. I am not a "power walker" and today, the only reason I didn't go for a run was that I felt too beat-up from yesterday's 12.5 mile run. as it turned out, my regular brisk pace just kept me even with them.

As we walked along, one of them pulled ahead of the other, by about 8-10 feet. All this time they carried out a conversation. It seemed a little weird that two people talking would 1. Get that far apart and 2. would arrange into single file. The path is wide enough for two to walk abreast and they had been walking that way for a while.

Later, I passed a hotel called Extended Stay America and I wondered at the logo:

It seemed a little bit like Holiday Inn. So I wondered: Are they trying to tie all the corporate brands together stylistically? Or are they a new company that is trying to leverage the brand equity of an older, trusted name?

A little research indicated that the companies are entirely unaffiliated. I won't take a position on whether ESA is trying to seem like they are part of Holiday Inn. I would like to note that there is enough stylistic overlap that it isn't a stupid question.