On Personal Space
Although not a squeamish person by nature, I really do not understand why the concept of personal space is often unfamiliar to a lot of people.
I do not appreciate it when people get in my personal space whether I am sitting or standing or crouching or jumping. The space that I am comfortable with is an arms reach away, as illustrated in the orange part of Leonardo Da Vinci’s Vitruvian Man. I mean, I most definitely do not mind if a close friend of mine or a family member doesn’t subscribe to that, for I am Arab after all, but there’s really a very fine line between a loved one and an acquaintance, a casual friend, etc.
Forsaken
August 11, 2008 @ 1:41 pm
i got it.
Yazan
August 11, 2008 @ 1:43 pm
I totally agree,
I love my personal space, and I am very protective of it.
whocares
August 11, 2008 @ 6:18 pm
thanks for the education but who cares about fuc*ing personal space
Hareega
August 11, 2008 @ 9:09 pm
then you’re living in the wrong country
Khalidah
August 11, 2008 @ 10:27 pm
I agree with Hareega :)
keefek??
Long time no see … I miss you :)
Hani Obaid
August 12, 2008 @ 6:16 am
I don’t mind so much someone being close as when they think it’s ok to touch you. A pat on the back, a brush of the forearm, a hug. All good things from family or an intimate are a nuisance from everyone else.
ghaloosh
August 12, 2008 @ 12:48 pm
i totaly agree with the personal space issue, i hate when people ignore it. I emphasize on it the most while eating and in the malls !!!!!!
Zain H.
August 12, 2008 @ 12:49 pm
I don’t mind this whole personal space issue as long as I don’t feel short for air… in other words when I can smell body odors then they’re too damn close! But when you can’t move or walk away, trapped behind your own desk at work like I currently am at the moment, how do you ask him/her to move away without sounding rude? Especially if they are older, and decide how much you earn at the end of the month…?
Personally, I keep dropping my pen and drop down for a bubble of air…
Amer
August 12, 2008 @ 6:53 pm
Every time I got off a bus in Jordan, I remember thinking “did I just have clothed sex with 5 people?”
LOL
There’s no such thing as a bubble back home. No idea why.
You’d think the culture with the more conservative people would be the one to frown upon groping passengers and standing leg-over-leg on busses and waiting lines in public. But no.
Thou shalt not have sex before you get married. Dry hump EVERYONE though.
lol
Fatima
August 14, 2008 @ 2:54 am
You could carry one of these around with you, or pass them out to people who have a hard time understanding the concept:
http://davidseah.com/blog/comments/a-chindogu-social-yardstick/
Ivette
August 14, 2008 @ 7:44 am
Me encanta tu blog, de vez en cuando entro a revisar lo que has escrito y también tus amigos. Es muy inteligente y creativo, felicitaciones desde Chile, Sudamérica!.
My English sucks, that’s why I wrote in Spanish first. Now, here’s the English version:
I love your blog, I have included it it in my favourites and I come in from time to time to see the news. I found it very intelligent and creative. I have learned a lot of the life and thinking of the young people “so far away” from my own country. Congratulations from Chile, South America!!