Girl in a Bubble

This was the week of the way-too-close. It started with our dinner at Lolita where two other couples were crammed in next to us in an otherwise empty restaurant, and it just got worse. There was Monday, when I went to the gym during off hours to ride alone in the dark spinning studio, currently one of the most blissful things imaginable to me. Except for when the darkness is interrupted by a woman coming in, turning on the lights, and in a room of 40 empty bikes, chooses to sit on the one next to mine.

Then there was the empty train car when, again, in a sea of empty spaces, someone decided to sit in the seat next to mine. Sometimes I truly wish I could invent a bubble to walk around in so that my space is well defined to my liking. Not too high maintenance is it?  

For someone who values a lot of personal space, those things were bad, or so I thought, until today. I took my spinning class, showered, and as usual headed to the steam room to sit (wrapped in a towel and sitting on a towel) for a few minutes.

I couldn’t believe what happened next.

For those of you who go to Healthworks, you know that there is an unnecessary level of nakedness amongst its gym-goers. I mentioned it in my gym pet peeves post last year, and nothing has changed in that department. Today the nakedness got way too close. As I sat all alone in the steam room, which has two levels of L-shaped benches, another person came into the room, and let’s just say she was NOT rocking a towel like I was. In my head, I thought that she would go to the other side of the steam room where there was plenty of room. That’s what I would do. No, this woman LAID DOWN RIGHT NEXT TO ME so that her toes were an inch from my leg. I seriously couldn’t believe it; if I moved even slightly to the right her feet would have touched me. I loudly said “ew” and walked out of the room.

Am I weird for being bothered by this?

Just because I am writing and because I am always inspired by and grateful for Melissa’s Three Things Thursday, here are a few other things that really annoy me.

1. People who don’t bag their own groceries and instead wait for the cashier to scan everything, then stand there and watch said cashier bagging while everyone else waits.

2. The rudeness of Boston men – and I know there are plenty of you out there who are awesome and polite – but never in my life or in any other city have I seen so man things pregnant women standing on the T, or as in the case today, a woman struggling with a stroller and a sleeping toddler (don’t worry, I helped) while men look down at their shoes, read the paper, or as in today’s case, stand and watch with their hands in their pockets. Plus, what’s up with sitting down next to me on the crowded T and opening your legs as wide as possible? It’s not your couch, gentlemen, lets be conscious of the space and remember some of those manners you must have learned long ago.

3. Parents who don’t recycle, use cloth bags etc. If you have kids, don’t you care about them having a world to live in after you die?

4. People who don’t look behind them when going through a door to see if someone else is close behind

5. While I am on the topic of the T, backpack wearers, take it off! How many times have you been hit in the face by a backpack in a situation like this?

6. Texting and walking – I am as phone-obsessed as anyone, but I am so tired of people almost walking into me because they are texting. This happens REALLY often at my gym when women are on their way out. It happened today, and I told the woman to look where she is going. I’m not going to take it anymore!

So that’s what’s bugging me today. . . I guess that’s a lot! But I was hungry, and I am triply irritable when I’ve missed lunch!

There’s a lot more in the gym pet peeves post; check it out for a good laugh.

Do you, like me, have major space issues? If not, what is the thing that really bothers you?