Lamentation on Personal Space

When we're little, our parents teach us that people we don't know are strangers and shouldn't be treated the same as our friends. As we grow up, we learn that standing too close to people we don't know can make them uncomfortable, and to imagine an invisible bubble around every person we meet.

But for some reason neither of these rules seem to apply to people who work in retail. Whether it's because they think we're beneath them or they think we're their friends because we're interacting with them, customers feel the need to express themselves physically. On behalf of all the retail workers in the world: we're not cool with that.

So to the guy who started tapping me on the finger and asking if my ring has any special significance: back off.

To the lady who gave me a big kiss on the cheek for helping her find the Saturday Night Fever soundtrack: watch it.

And to all the little old ladies who like to give me hugs when I hand them the very item they've been searching for: actually, you're kind of cute. But everyone else needs to take one big step back before they start asking me for assistance.

Ashley