Shopping Philosophy 101 – Personal Space Should not be Violated
I was in line at the grocery store, absently reading the headlines of the tabloids, when I felt a nudge from behind. I turned and there was a woman’s cart right up against me. I went around and stood next to my cart, thinking, “maybe she just doesn’t see me standing here.? I went back to reading about who had whose baby, when suddenly my cart was bumped. I pulled my cart forward, trying to create more space between the front of her cart and the back of mine. Seconds later she bumped it again. I finally made eye contact and got a “sorry.?
I have had similar experiences just about everywhere I have had to wait in lines.
People. We must learn to respect personal space while shopping. It’s especially important during the holiday season, when we are crushed together in malls, department stores and groceries. It’s the violation of this space that can make a happy Bob Cratchet turn into a miserable Ebenezer Scrooge.
Anthropologist E.T. Hall wrote that proxemics is, “. . . the study of how man* unconsciously structures microspace- the distance between men in the conduct of daily transactions…? (Hall, 1963, p. 1003)
Hall measured four proximal distances.
Intimate distance – 0 to 18 inches. Significant others or very close friends only, please.
Personal distance – 18 inches to 4 feet. Friends, relatives and my fellow shoppers.
Social distance – 4 to 12 feet. Acquaintances, co-workers and people at parties.
Public distance – 12 to 25 feet. Everyone else.
The way I see it, the woman in the grocery was violating at least two of my personal distances.
Some studies have shown that for the average westerner, the personal space “bubble? extends about a foot and a half front and back, and about 2 feet side to side**. That’s as close as I EVER want to be to anyone I’m in line with at a store, the bank or the movie theater.
Get this straight: violating my personal space will not make the line go faster. But it will make me uncomfortable, cranky and no fun to be in line with!
Let’s have more respect for each other this holiday. Give each other some room and it will help us all to be happier, calmer, much less Scroogy shoppers!
Personal Space, Shopping, Waiting In Line, Rude Shoppers, Holiday Shopping, Bob Cratchet, Ebenezer Scrooge
* Hall referred to “man? meaning both men and women.
** Source: Wikipedia
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