three feet of personal space
i usually try to catch a nap on the metro ride to work. particularly this week since my carpool is on a business trip, i’ve had to ride the metro for much longer… giving me enough time to catch a fulfilling powernap. (there’s nothing more annoying than napping, but feeling unrefreshed when waking up!)
since the stop i’ve been getting on at is relatively far out, i usually can get a seat. typically, i’ll get a seat and fall asleep. by the time i wake up, a stop or two before i need to get off, the train has become considerably more crowded. i’ve gotten used to waking up with people standing around me. a couple of times, i did get startled when i woke up to find someone’s butt/back in my face but that was only on the rare really crowded days.
today, the train i got on was a bit more crowd than usual (PROBABLY because it was the first train to come in over 10 minutes!! grr, but that’s another gripe for another post). since there weren’t any seats, i stood towards the end of the train car where there was a clear wall to lean up against. while there wasn’t any seats available, there was still plenty of space to stand.
after awhile, before even arriving at the next stop, i decided to sit down on the floor. there was plenty of space for this. basically the area i was standing had enough space for a seat had the metro people wanted to place a seat there. so i sat down and quickly fell asleep. i woke up a stop or two before my stop to discover…
a large man sitting on the floor right next to me. he wasn’t fat exactly, but he was large. and the amount of space available really wasn’t all that great… probably only enough space for 2 skinny people which neither of us were. his legs (sitting indian style! c’mon man! space is limited as is!!) were all up against my legs. i think in my sleep i had tried to shy away from his body, but i was in a corner so reaaaally there was no space to go. the man was all up in my space!!! it was so bad that in order to get up, i had to ask him to get up first!
was there any reason for this man to be sitting riiiight next to me? sure all the seats were taken (as they were when i got on the train), BUT there was still some space to stand! the train wasn’t terribly crowded. had he wanted, he could’ve stood ANYwhere. heck, he could’ve even stood next to me and wouldn’t have been all up in my space. but nooo, he tried to squish in where there wasn’t any space and sat down right next to me! >:O
i need my space. at least three feet of space if not more. there should be some rule that if someone is sleeping, you can’t touch them. do not disturb or something. that just ruined what was a great nap for me because i woke up so surprised and then i just didn’t feel refreshed anymore. 
