Study: How to keep strangers from sitting next to you
A new study offers some helpful hints on navigating our
"culture of social isolation in public places," better known as, how
to keep people from sitting next to you on the plane, bus or train.
Yale University's Esther Kim spent three years traveling
thousands of miles across U.S. bus systems to compile her observations.
"I became what's known as an experienced traveler
and I jotted down many of the different methods people use to avoid sitting
next to someone else," Kim told Science Daily. "We engage in all
sorts of behavior to avoid others, pretending to be busy, checking phones,
rummaging through bags, looking past people or falling asleep. Sometimes we
even don a 'don't bother me face' or what's known as the 'hate stare'."
Some of the tips for avoiding your fellow travelers are
dictated by physical postures, such as avoiding eye contact, staring out the
window with a blank stare or simply pretending to be asleep. While others are
more overtly antisocial, like placing your bag on the empty seat next to you,
listening to your iPod, or even lying and saying the seat next to has already
been taken.
Kim describes what is the nearly universally understood
but rarely spoken truth: a game of chess played by passengers, in which they
strategically situate themselves in ways to both maximize comfort and minimize
the odds of traveling next to a stranger. And when a flight or bus trip is
full, the priorities radically shift to simply avoiding sitting next to someone
"weird."
Interestingly, Kim also found that class, gender and race
did not play significant roles in where people choose to sit.
"Motivating this nonsocial behavior is the fact that
one's own comfort level is the rider's key concern, rather than the backgrounds
of fellow passengers," she said.
Though some critical discrimination does still play a
role with certain riders.
"One rider told me the objective is just 'getting
through the ride', and that I should avoid fat people who may sweat more and so
may be more likely to smell," Kim said.
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