I have issues with personal space. Some days I can handle it, some days, not so much. Today is one of those days.
While I was waiting for my last bus today, in the army style line up, I noticed the woman behind me sneaking closer, baby step by baby step. I could tell because I could see her shadow. She was reading the paper, and at one point it grazed my hair. There’s tons of space.
Tons.
I thought, ‘What’s up with this chick standing right on my ass?! Goddamn, I’m really not in the mood. I can smell her coffee breath. Gross. Did her paper just touch my hair? What the f. MOVE.’
So, I played a little game.
I moved up.
She moved up.
I moved up.
She moved up.
I moved sideways.
She moved sort of beside me.
I moved up.
She sneezed in my hair.
In.
My.
Hair.
She didn’t even cover her mouth.
Gross. What on earth is wrong with people?
As far as I’m aware, my hair does not resemble a box of Kleenex. I mean, even if she didn’t have time to cover her mouth, she could have at least turned her head slightly so her bodily fluids landed on the pavement rather than in my hair.
Imagine the consideration. I made sure to shoot her dirty looks and sat far from her. I didn’t have the caffeine intake or patience to say anything, and even if I did, it wouldn’t have done any good really.
So, I scored a sweet bus seat, and an older woman plopped down beside me. I say, ‘plopped’ because she entered the seat blindly, with the hopes of landing in her spot, but instead her butt landed on part of my leg. After she shimmied over, she continued to check her watch 7 times.
I counted.
The reason I noticed was because every time she checked, she took off her glove and elbowed me in the side.
Every time.
Glove On. Glove Off. Glove On. Glove Off. Glove On. Glove Off.
I was sitting beside the wall, so there was no where for me to move. I was literally sitting sort of sideways and pressed up against the window, with the hopes her poking would stop. Nah.
Whenever I have days like this, I think of that Seinfeld episode when Elaine gets stuck on the subway as she is on her way to a wedding. She totally freaks out – whether it’s a good thing or not, I’m exactly the same. Sometimes I just want to scream at the top of my lungs and literally knock some sense into my fellow transit commuters.
Instead, for now, I suppose I will settle for overly obvious eye rolls, shoulder checks, and the occasional swift tackle.
OMG! I totally feel for you. I have encountered some of the same problems you have encountered. People can be such animals and oblivious to people around them. There have been one too many times when a fat woman plops her fat ass down on me and not the seat. I’ve had a man sneezed right at me with spittle. It was gross! I completely feel for you.
EWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW.
That is horrible!
Public transportation sucks. I know it’s not a real popular thing to say – we’re all supposed to want to “go green” or something – but your post shows exactly why. It’s having to be pushed up against all sorts of disgusting people. Here’s hoping you get a car soon.