Personal Space Invaders

I loves me my personal space. Excessively so. It even took me a while to accept that many of my friends wish to hug hello and goodbye. Maybe I wasn't held enough as a child, who knows. My family isn't super "touchy," and I'm okay with that. So you can imagine my complete aversion to invasion of my personal space by complete and total strangers.

I understand that sometimes this is unavoidable. Like, it is understandable when you have to touch strangers on busy buses or subways, or at dance clubs, or in mosh pits. (Note: I have never, nor will I ever, voluntarily enter a mosh pit.) In these circumstances, I am willing to cede some territory to the enemy...within reason. What drives me crazy is when strangers invade my personal space when there is ample available room for them to inhabit without needing to offend my person with unnecessary touching.

For example, the other day I was waiting in line to get ice cream. A loud and obnoxious group of girls was behind me. I'm not sure if they were drunk, but they kept moving around, bumping into me in the process. I got hit with at least three purses and two rear ends. There was no one behind them in line, so why couldn't they continue their spastic conversation at least a foot outside of my range? Then they could flail about without disturbing others. Seeing as how I am studying for the bar, they are lucky their egregious touching didn't result in me erupting and spewing some stress-induced crazy all over them. But somehow I managed to contain myself.

Another time I was on the BART, and this quite large woman got on and stood in such a way as to literally paste me to the wall. I was actually on my tip-toes, unable to put my arms down. Said woman seemed to be completely unaware that she had put me in this awkward position. Again, there was PLENTY of room for her to stand in such a way that did not reduce me to a pancake stuck to the nasty BART wall. Yet, she just stood there. Finally some benevolent man grabbed my arm, pulled me out of my misery ,and gave me his seat. God bless that man, wherever he is.

I just don't understand it. If there is an open space, don't stand RIGHT next to me. If you don't have to, then DO NOT touch me. I have hopes that someday someone will invent a device that emits an invisible force field that will zap people who come within 3 inches of you. You can program it so that friends and loved ones don't get zapped. It will be fabulous. Until then, keep your appendages to yourself, please, and remember, nature abhors a vacuum. Fill that empty space, already!