I'm one of those people who has a personal space bubble. It is mine, and if I don't invite you into it, stay out. Today, getting lunch at Boston Market, I had the misfortune to have a very rude lady behind me in line. I was at the register trying to pay for my lunch and she started crowding me. I looked at her, looked at the gap between us, and then turned back to the lady at the register. Rude lady took this as her cue to move closer to me. I didn't move over, but I know there had to have been something I could have said politely to get her out of my bubble. Ideas for next time?
goblue, I just had this happen to me last night. I was standing in a line in a narrow hallway, the line was against one wall and the cashier was on the other side of the hallway (maybe 3-4 feet wide). When I get up to the cashier, the guy behind me decides that he is going to crowd me and stand right behind me (rather than against the wall behind me, as everyone else had done). Well, I turned around twice to stare at him, and the woman behind him got the message, but he didnt. I was making a credit card transaction, and didnt want him to see my card number or the amount of my purchase (which he was definitely close enough to see).
So a minute later, I took a small step back (I had been leaning forward, so I was correcting myself) and flat out bumped into him while he was on his palm pilot! Yes, I stepped back on purpose, but I didnt expect him to be *that* close to me (I think he actually got closer than the last time I had seen him). He finally got the message! I wouldnt do this every time, but in this case it was pretty effective.
