Step off!
I was picking up a burger alone at 20-foot-long lunch counter yesterday; this woman sidles next to me to have a look at the specials on display. At first she was a foot away, then, as though she couldn't examine the green beans from where she was, she closed in to such a short distance that I actually had to step away from her to avoid being nudged. Did I mention we were the only two at the counter? What is with people?
I'm not enough of an egomaniac to assume she was flirting; she was easily twenty-five years my senior, and clearly focused on the steamed veggies - not on me. She was just one more person on this planet who seems to have lost any sense of personal space. Patrick Swayze explained it best in the first few seconds of this clip (the rest in just for old-times sake):
People are invading others' spaces more and more. Another example: I was on the phone at my desk, talking to my wife about supper; my last words were "Ok, on my way home I'll pick up some pork chops to throw on the barbecue." The moment I hung up, a colleague sitting next to me remarked: "Mmmm....pork chops." I understand overhearing someone's conversation is at times unavoidable. But, there's a difference between hearing and listening, and it's another level of intrusion entirely to offer an unsolicited comment about a conversation you were not a part of. Now, to have a conversation at work, I leave my desk, seek a quiet section of hallway, and use my cell phone to call home; the danger of brain tumours be damned.
Similarly when I'm in line at the grocery store, or any other retail outlets where there is a clear order in which the clients will be processed, I bristle when I feel the person directly behind me brush against my clothing as they draw closer to the cash register. You will NOT be processed sooner if you reduce the amount of space between yourself and the person (me!) in front of you.
While driving, I don't mind being tailgated in the left-hand lane of a highway, those lanes are reserved for passing; if I'm not passing, I should move over. BUT it drives me (pardon the pun) nuts when fellow motorists are glued to my bumper while waiting for the lane to our left to be clear. Those jerks finish a close second to those who block my entry to an expressway during rush hour traffic. Do they not notice my on-ramp is running out of real estate and I have no choice but to merge? Have they also not realized that at this hour of the morning, there is not much to be gained by being in front, as opposed to behind me, when we are all moving at 3 miles an hour?
Canada is large enough for each citizen to have nearly three square kilometres (1.9 miles) to themselves (granted, most of that land is, for a large a large part of the year, frozen solid - but Canada is home to some wonderful parka manufacturers), so can we make a new rule that no one should be touching, leaning, nudging or bumping someone else, unless such behaviour is expected or welcome? Next time I get bumped by an old lady at a burger stand, I'm throwing an elbow.
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