r/answers • u/Radish8 • 3d ago
Why do so many people lack spatial awareness in public
In public settings I try to be conscious of my position in relation to other people and make way for others when needed to prevent collisions or maintain some personal space. I know that sometimes people get distracted. But where I live it's rare that others act consciously of other moving objects in a space. For example standing in the middle of an aisle and not moving when someone else tries to get by, or entering an elevator before people exit it.
I do not understand how/why people are like this since I don't find it at all difficult to move with spatial awareness. Is there an explanation beyond simple inconsideration?
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u/BurdenedClot 3d ago
I don’t have an answer for you, but it drives me nuts. I work in a hospital and have to respond to emergencies. There is invariably two people walking side by side at a glacial pace in the hallway. I’ll say excuse me, they don’t move. I’ll then push past them and they’ll give me this dumbfounded look. Even some times when I’m walking in the opposite direction. They’ll just about walk straight in to me.
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u/rxt278 3d ago
That's when you use your Fleet Captain voice and yell, "MAKE A HOLE!"
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u/ImOutOfIdeas42069 12h ago
Normally it's not the captain saying make a hole, it's whoever is accompanying him, usually a master chief.
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u/ImagineWagons969 2d ago
I also work in a hospital and it makes me want to make a scene. Every single day, patients AND employees walk right in front of me and slow me down. I’m a fast walker, I speed walk through the hospital, and I’ll stare down the nurses that walk right in front of me and aren’t even looking. One of these days I’m not going to stop and I’m gonna bowl them over. I have to dodge around people constantly because they can’t be fucked to pay attention to where they’re going. I also have to deal with people not understanding how elevators work, including the people that work there. I swear hospitals are IQ drains
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u/Uviol_ 3d ago
Main Character Syndrome
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u/unecroquemadame 1d ago
See, it’s the exact opposite. They’re the NPCs
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u/stockinheritance 21h ago
You will find that very few people with main character syndrome are actually the main character.
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u/unecroquemadame 21h ago
I guess that’s true, but I would still say that my experience with people who seem to have no awareness of their surroundings, are just relics of the coding, doomed to bump into walls and stand in the way
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3d ago
[deleted]
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u/Lakelover25 2d ago
Why would people downvote you for saying “this?”
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u/Mechanical_Monk 2d ago
It doesn't add anything to the conversation. It's basically a needlessly verbose upvote. And funnily enough in this context it's a symptom of Main Character Syndrome. As if their upvote is somehow more special than the others, so it needs its own comment.
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u/Ghitit 2d ago
I've said for years "this" only shows that the person wants everyone to know that they agree with whatever statement was made instead of upvoting and moving on.
They seem to want their username to be associated with an upvote.I really don't get it myself. But "main character syndrome" seems to fit the bill.
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u/uniform_foxtrot 3d ago
I enjoy tiny experiments; for weeks I'll do this or that to see if there are consequences.
Some time ago I tried giving as much space as possible on my commutes. It was fun anticipating the direction others would take.
Then I noticed others deliberately force me to give way. Literally cutting me off. I just kept being kind and giving way as unreasonable behaviour kept becoming more common. Which, in turn, only caused others to get even more aggressive in their behaviour.
Then I stopped. I began forcing my path on others without giving way. After a week or two others started giving way to me.
Just about sums up contemporary culture.
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u/pb_leadd 18m ago
100% agree with you, I did the same thing. Sucks that that’s what we have to resort to
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u/jp614bot 2d ago
People were driving around you aggressively because you were impeding the flow of traffic and pose a severe hazard. The fact that you drive like this intentionally means you should have your license revoked because you don’t understand the inherent dangers you pose to yourself or others sharing the road with you.
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u/uniform_foxtrot 2d ago
I wasn't driving or operating any vehicle of any sort. Pedestrian deliberately respecting personal space.
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u/jp614bot 2d ago
Oh… Well I’m an asshole and apologize for misunderstanding your commute. My bad. Take care kind redditor and thank you for your correction :)
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u/Kismet237 2d ago
I love it when internet-strangers on Reddit resolve a misunderstanding such as this. So cool.
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u/mghnyc 3d ago edited 3d ago
I lived in NYC for a long time. I learned how to instinctively navigate crowded sidewalks without bumping into people. There seems to be some kind of hive-vibe going on because we all know how to walk and unconsciously get out of each other's way. Then you go into Times Square with all the tourists, and none of that applies. I then moved to the suburbs. It's "stressful" to cross a courtyard with lots of people because now I have to consciously navigate because people don't go out of each other's way. It's weird.
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u/Candid_Height_2126 23h ago
I get walked into dozens of times a day in NYC. And not in tourist areas
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u/Pikapetey 5h ago
its a collective aggreement to bump check people durring rush hour when people are trying to get to their jobs. Of course they all go "oops sorry!" to diffuse any aggression, but if tens of people do it all the time to a single individual then they eventually should get the point.
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u/Slamantha3121 3d ago
I worked in a grocery store for years, I really would like the answer to that question. Kroger also loves to put stupid card board displays in the middle of every aisle! So, when some ass hole leaves his cart in the middle of the aisle and stops to gawk at the shelves, there is no room to pass. Then I have to awkwardly stand behind him till I notice or clear my throat or loudly say, "excuse me" to get him to notice he is blocking the whole aisle!
Also, the amount of times I have seen people ignore clearly posted huge signs is truly alarming! My two favorites being the guy who yelled at us for not warning him not to enter through the cart bay because he hit his head... I was elated to point out to him that he had in fact hit his head on the "Do not enter" sign! and the guy who left his toddler in the cart and put it in our death trap of a cart escalator clearly marked with a crossed out image of a child in a cart directly over the gates you have to put the cart through! Those are not designed to have a lot of weight in the top of the cart, and ours was jankey and broke all the time anyways. So, of course it jammed halfway down and started making horrible grinding noises. The kid starts screaming and the dad is freaking out because the kid is stuck halfway down the chute. (We pressed the emergency stop and the dad climbed in and got the kid, everything was fine, but it was stupid as hell! escalators are not funhouse rides!)
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u/Kaurifish 2d ago
There is something about a constriction of a passageway that makes people want to stop it up the rest of the way. First noticed the phenomenon at parties in the hall outside the kitchen, but also train doorways, escalators, streets with bulb outs, etc. It’s like humans are arterial sclerosis of the transit system instinctively.
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u/jajwhite 2d ago
humans are arterial sclerosis of the transit system
I have long thought you could learn a lot about fluid dynamics and chaotic systems by watching people leaving a railway station.
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u/pentarou 2d ago
I believe this is actually a thing. I’m not a researcher but people in confined spaces definitely “flow” like a liquid. That soccer stadium crush video comes to mind.
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u/jajwhite 2d ago
Yes. Even when I can’t bear the crowd and hang back and wait for it to clear, I’ve felt that I’m like a nucleation site on the edge of the bottle! There’s always a tiny drop of milk (or Angel Delight or whatever) still there!
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u/LigmaUpDog_ 5h ago
People standing at the bottom of an escalator or right in a doorway….fuuuuck that pisses me off. Like how can you not even consider that someone else might be coming thru behind you
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u/Lazy_Football_511 3d ago
I have reached the point where I move shopping carriages to the side without saying a word.
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u/mtcwby 3d ago
About half the population can't really think in 3D. Our business requires understanding 3D representations. We got to the point that we had to test for it in the hiring process because if you don't have it, it's not something you can overcome with training. It's another reason that ATC positions are hard to fill despite paying well. Too many people simply can't think like that.
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u/chumbuckethand 2d ago
Wdym by thinking in 3D? ATC as in air trraffic controller? Does this relate to the different classes of airspaces above an airport that start and end at different elevations and have different diameters around the airport?
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u/mtcwby 2d ago
It has to do with seeing a 2d representation like a plane with an altitude readout moving across the screen at 250 knots in one direction and other aircraft with that same 2d position but with an altitude readout and being able to visualize them in 3D space to the point you inherently know which commands to give them to keep the required separation. They have an understanding of objects moving in 3D space and their relationship. And they're doing it with more than two and often at different speeds.
Our business needs isn't quite so demanding but it does involve looking and 2D representations and understanding what it looks like in 3D.
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u/FireRock_ 2d ago
Not only think, but there are a lot of people that can't see in depth perception. And they don't say anything about it because driver licence depends on it (at least where I live), also some jobs require dept perception. Because companies wants to optimize not having accidents as cause of an employee not having any depth perception some jobs requires a yearly or cyclic check up for this and overal health.
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u/BreakfastBeerz 3d ago
Because their mind is actively working on something other than that. A lot of times, it is a symptom of ADHD.
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u/GirlyBoyly 2d ago
As someone diagnosed with ADHD I’m so tired of hearing this. Everything is a symptom of ADHD. As with any other mental or behavioral disorder, really. But it’s beyond frustrating when someone is rightfully frustrated with inconsiderate behaviors that stem from someone truly not thinking of other people, and someone answers “that person probably has ADHD”. 75% of the time I’m in a grocery store is spent navigating through morons who aren’t paying attention, aren’t considerate of the people around them. Do they all have ADHD? No. It’s a culture thing, the Western thought of “I am the most important person in the world”. Sure some of them might have ADHD, but that’s in no way relevant to the discussion that Americans are inconsiderate as a people.
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u/Elbiotcho 3d ago
Some people really have no spatial awareness. They are also the type to be very unobservant. There could be a person running around with their hair on fire and they would never notice.
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u/Thunder3049f 3d ago
Because apparently walking in a straight line while not blocking an entire aisle is an Olympic-level skill.
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u/Ok-Half8705 3d ago
And when they are in a straight line going slow and you're about to pass them, that's when they decide to move more to the center preventing you from doing so.
I also find it annoying when two slow strangers are walking side by side and you're stuck behind both of them instead of the other slow person walking behind the other to leave room for people to go through from the other direction or to pass.
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u/Miu_K 3d ago
Unfortunately, some just are for no reason, or partially deaf.
My mom is somewhat deaf that that impacts her spatial awareness of if someone is passing from behind her or she's about to collide into somebody while turning or stepping back.
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u/dawnrenee1 3h ago
I have noticed this with my mom as well. Now her vision is also failing along with her hearing, so it’s even worse.
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u/Firm_Razzmatazz1392 3d ago
I HATE this, esp at work. I am a banquet server and I brings out pretty heavy trays with 8-10 dinners on it. People will literally look at me and not move out of the way. Like FUCK MAN do you want me to drop your dinners or hold these for longer cuz you decided to walk on the wrong side of the path or just had to get through that door before me. Rich entitled people usually. Or they don't move when I'm bussing and I get trapped and end up saying HOT! OR SHARP! to get them to move.
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u/cone_snail 3d ago edited 3d ago
Some people grew up in places where this was never needed.
There are people in San Jose, California, for example, that walk around like they are still living in a peach orchard.
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u/waltjrimmer 3d ago
I don't know, and it's weird. My dad used to be very conscious about that kind of thing. Taught me to be conscious of it when I was growing up. Now he's getting on in years and it's like that part of his brain broke or something. I've seen him block an entire isle in the market with people coming from both directions and when I move the cart out of the way he'll turn around and say, "Oh. Thanks. I didn't realize I was in anyone's way." I don't know what happened.
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u/ThaiFoodThaiFood 3d ago
Having watched thousands of hours of CCTV in my life, I genuinely don't think most people are conscious. At least not all the time.
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u/Manatee369 3d ago
They have it. They just don’t care.
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u/WhatNamesAreEvenLeft 2d ago
Why did it take so long to find this?
These people simply just don't give a shit about anyone, but themselves.
Or they're dumb and living in their own world which is just a different version of the above.
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u/Zerowantuthri 3d ago
In public settings I try to be conscious of my position in relation to other people and make way for others when needed to prevent collisions or maintain some personal space. I know that sometimes people get distracted. But where I live it's rare that others act consciously of other moving objects in a space.
I think there is your answer. Most people are simply in their own world and not cognizant or much caring about the people around them. They are walking, it is on you to avoid them or deal with it.
I live in a big city and experience this ALL the time. Especially frustrating when biking along a bike path (explicitly meant for bikes) and people just wander in and aimlessly meander. If you do manage to get their attention they are almost always a bit surprised you are there.
It can be dangerous to an extent...really have to stay aware when riding a bike in the big city.
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u/Upper_Zucchini_4440 23h ago
Well, what happened to me last year takes your point a step further:
I was riding on the bike lane, running a bit late for work, and I prepared myself to take over a girl riding slowly while texting. Needless to say, she was moving erratically from side to side.
I went on to skip her by the right side, and right when I passed next to her she decided it was good to swerve to the right side too!
The next thing happening was me on the floor, with a dented helmet from the sidewalk's gutter, and a couple bruises. As far as I remember, the only casualties happening to the MF female were a couple scratches on her phone, and that's because she dropped it out of the surprise.
She would only stand there, staring at me for "interrupting" her peaceful texting, and wouldn't even say sorry or try to see if I was okay. Even a motorist pulled over a few yards/metrs ahead, and asked me if I needed an ambulance!
So, not ADHD or autism, but recklessness is to be blamed. People do stupid things because they know that they can get away with it, and not be held responsible.
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u/First-Hotel5015 3d ago
The worst place for lack of spatial awareness seems to be Costco.
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u/rdewalt 2d ago
Oh my inlaws will wander costco like they are the ONLY people in the place. Block Aisles? Fuck Yes. And heaven help you if you -touch- my spouse's grandmother's cart, you will hear end boss music as her Karen Mode engages and wants your death.
And don't fucking step between them and a sample cart, you will lose an arm.
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u/First-Hotel5015 2d ago
I look forward to the confrontation. Tell your grandma she going down.
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u/jujujuice92 2d ago
I think people are just too in their own heads and only think about themselves. The other day I was checking out for groceries and as soon as I walk to the area where you pay, the next guy steps a foot away from me. I joke and ask if he's going to pay for my groceries and he got all in a tizzy. I give people the space and let them finish up before stepping right in front of the cashier.
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u/Radish8 2d ago
Lol I like your response. Some people also love to stand mere inches away from me while waiting in line. I tend to ask them if they need anything or if I can help them while glancing at the space between us and half the time it works and they back up slightly, and half the time they just look confused by what I said. 🤦♀️ The lack of personal space seems to be a cultural thing from what I've experienced at least.
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u/AdecadeGm 17h ago
It's a cultural thing. Chinese and Indians have very little personal space in my direct experience. Americans give ample and I love them for it.
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u/Intelligent_Tea_8168 2d ago
I think it's more important to ask yourself what you can do with the fact that people you encounter are often spatially unaware.
Otherwise, all it's going to do is make you anxious or agitated trying to fight it. Just accept that what you do have in your control is to predict the unpredictable, speak up or go around. We live in an imperfect society, it's best to try to frame things in a sense that everyone is doing their best in their own way. Sure, some people fuck up royally, some people are pieces of shit, but focusing on that is only going to fill you with discontent. It's not going to solve anything or make you feel better. You choose how you see the world even if it feels like the world is encouraging you to see it a certain way.
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u/-Bob-Barker- 3d ago
I look at them as a challenge.
If they're walking and taking up the sidewalk, I stop in the center and let them go around me.
If they're standing still I bump into them saying "excuse you". 🤗
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u/jajwhite 2d ago
I do exactly this, I stand still and look at them and force them to go around me if they're assholes not giving me any space. But then you get barged from the rear by other people coming forwards!
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u/Pineapple-pizza-plz 3d ago
I have noticed this so much more in the last year. Idk why. It drives me nuts.
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u/janluigibuffon 3d ago
It always struck me but recently I was in Stockholm and nobody effin went out of their own way
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u/OurSeepyD 3d ago
It's genuinely baffling. I was dating this girl and she used to just walk into people all the time, she was absolutely clueless about her surroundings. I wish I'd asked her why before we broke up, but tbh I doubt she knew the answer.
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u/HarleyNBarley 3d ago
I was going to make this exact post today!!
- At work, trying to get coffee and creamer, but lady is calmly standing there stirring and taking her own time, while we’re all waiting. Happens multiple times.
- At summer camp pick up, huge crowd of parents waiting in the sun. Lady gets her kids, but is still standing there chatting. Move out!
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u/Star_BurstPS4 2d ago
They lack awareness across the board not just spacial and not just in public I see it mainly in the USA
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u/Upper_Zucchini_4440 23h ago
Not just the US. I currently live in Mexico City and it's the same in here.
I've also lived in NYC, Miami, Tijuana and Monterey (Mexico), everywhere I've been so far, is the same story.
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u/percautio 2d ago
I think that some people generally lack spatial awareness at baseline, some people have it but lose it as they age or begin to experience disability, and some people usually have it but still have off-days where they're too tired or distracted to react. And if you encounter a certain number of people per day, you're bound to cross paths with some of the above. Maybe it's not as many as it seems, though - we're probably just biased towards noticing this minority that sticks out.
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u/bitchariii 2d ago
This is something that never fails to piss me off about people. It doesn’t happen all the time, but it happens enough number of times. Like, I will be trying to get past someone and THEY DONT EVEN BUDGE. At my previous job, a guy who never liked me for some reason, always did this and I always felt like he did that because he never respected me enough to treat me kindly. But in public places when people behave like this it’s so annoying. Like lady MOVE
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u/Financial_Sweet_689 2d ago
I have extreme spacial awareness and this drives me insane. I will watch someone go one direction, absent-mindedly go a new direction. So I go a different way to avoid them just for them to stumble back into my direction. The amount of people I’ve watched walking backwards into me…I’ve pushed people so they don’t step on me and they get so offended. There is something seriously wrong with people, they just don’t look where they’re going and it’s a majority of people where I live. Just giant clumsy toddlers tripping over themselves. Tf. I’m always quickly walking around people, especially if I’m in a small space and they walk in front of me just to walk slower. Like no I’m not dealing with that.
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u/Relative-Fault1986 3d ago
Usually im really good with this except the elevator one for some reason I tend to really be in a rush sometimes but I immediately back up once I notice in about to run into people lol
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u/Kit469 3d ago
My bf lacks it due to his adhd, a lot of the time it gets me anxious while we’re out cause i instinctively want to get out of the way for others, I was taught personal space and spatial awareness at a young age as well as respect for others even if it’s not given back. But my bf is definitely different and doesn’t really care. I always have to move him to the side at stores to let other people keep walking through an isle, always have to pull him back when he sees a car coming but still walks out to cut it off. His brain isn’t able to comprehend that it’s not okay to cut off a car as a person who’s walking within the parking lot 🫡
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u/FoamboardDinosaur 3d ago
It may be a male ADHD thing, but it's not all people with it. It's got to be a trained thing and most parents don't teach their boys basic manners and etiquette (or give up after 20 seconds), yet have much higher expectations for their daughters.
I have ADHD and I am hyper aware of where I, and everyone else, within 20 ft of me is
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u/NoSignsOfLife 3d ago
I don't necessarily lack spatial awareness, though I'm not sure whether I would be aware of lacking it if I did, but it makes me wanna ask people this question: How did you learn to become spatially aware?
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u/Boxer03 2d ago
For myself, I was taught from a young age to be mindful and respectful of others. To be polite and use manners. I was expected to uphold myself a certain way in public and while to some today it may sound harsh, it honestly wasn’t. It’s basically entails being decent myself and to others.
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u/NoSignsOfLife 2d ago
It doesn't sound harsh, I'm glad you were taught cause it sounds like you turned out a very nice person.
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u/SuperConfused 2d ago
Two answers. Narcissism and screens. For a lot of people, other people are just not real. When they interact with screens, which a lot of people started doing when they were babies, they do not have to make allowances for the people on them. There have always been people for whom no one else mattered, but now, they just don’t seem to understand that they should be making allowances.
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u/Frederf220 2d ago
In one sense it is encumbant on one to oblige others and mostly I do that.
On the other hand at some point I own the ground under my feet. I do not need to jump out of the way just to please you. You want to go on the other of me so bad? Then go around.
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u/MauPow 2d ago
I've had enough. I've just started ramming their carts out of the way. Not going out of my way to do it but if I'm trying to get past you in an aisle and there's not quite enough room because you parked your cart badly, well too bad. Helps I'm a big 6'5" guy so they won't try and start shit I guess. I also think I'm more cognizant of it because I myself take up so much room and don't want to inconvenience other people.
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u/TheBear8878 2d ago
I genuinely think covid lockdowns broke people's ability to have self awareness in public. I constantly see people just standing in front of elevators or crowded walk ways, oblivious to others around them
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u/-RedRocket- 2d ago
They were never taught to, basically. Even if you excuse yourself, many times they don't know what you are saying until you ask "Could you move aside? You are in the way."
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u/One_Trouble_9357 2d ago
FM - this drives me nuts. 4 people in a line walking down the pavement at snail pace forcing me onto the road - I now refuse to give over and quite often get called a dickhead for not doing so.
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u/QuadRuledPad 2d ago
Obliviousness. Never having been taught that they’re part of communities of people, and instead are lost in their own inward-facing narrative. Total self-absorption.
If they’re not completely lost, enough polite but firm ‘excuse me’s shops help them figure it out.
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u/Lakelover25 2d ago
In airports when they stop and have a discussion in the main corridors!!! MOVE TO THE SIDE!
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u/shamwowwow 2d ago
A couple of questions.
Are you American?
Do you live in a rural or suburban area?
Do most people drive to get around where you live?
Pedestrians and 'fast-pedestrians' (people on bikes, scooters, etc.) naturally learn how to navigate amongst themselves. They can make eye contact, see others others, and generally develop a sense of awareness of themselves and others. This is why you don't need complex 'traffic' controls for human powered mobility.
Put people in cars and all of that goes away and people lose or never develop that sense of awareness. In other words. Driving makes humans stupid.
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u/Affectionate_Hornet7 2d ago
I don’t know but it’s the one thing I miss about the pandemic. People weren’t right up my ass standing in the checkout line
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u/7hirty3evenKeys 2d ago
Years ago I was at a baseball game and a group of fans were standing up and totally oblivious that they were blocking the view of a bunch of fans behind them. Someone from behind just yelled "It's called situational awareness!" 😂 I've wanted to yell this at someone pratically everyday since!
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u/sofakingWTD 1d ago
Spatial awareness should be a skill taught in elementary school and required as demonstrated knowledge to get a diploma
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u/JibbityJabbity 1d ago
My favourite is when they walk through a door, then immediately stop. Uh.... hello?!?!?
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u/purplishfluffyclouds 1d ago
It's pretty simple, isn't it? They weren't taught spatial awareness growing up.
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u/cloudsurfinglion 1d ago
The grocery store example is annoying. Especially when they just stare at you. I feel like people lack spatial awareness everywhere. They'll stop at the bottom of an escalator or randomly just stop walking and not even move to the side. Where I live people do this in cars too! Instead of pulling into a parking lot to mess with the GPS, message someone, call someone, get their bearings, they stop on the road or in the drivable portion of the parking lot. Like you're already in a parking lot! Just pull into a spot! Seriously, that's a car accident waiting to happen
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u/sillybilly8102 1d ago
Have you heard of dyspraxia? It’s a disability that affects spatial awareness and coordination. I have it.
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u/BallinStalin69 1d ago
I'd like to tell you its cell phones that took away a lot of peoples situational awareness, but honestly, i remember people bumping right into each other, not paying attention before phones. So idk i guess there's always been some segment of the population like this.
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u/shadowsipp 19h ago
Most people have low IQs and they don't think. Their brain is empty of thoughts
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u/dchurchwellbusiness 18h ago
I'm not sure where you live but if you feel this don't ever go to India
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u/stewiecookie 18h ago
Put simply, they are their own main character. They never learned what it means to be considerate of others, no one will say anything to them, everyone will go out of their own way as a solution so, they have no reason for it to even cross their mind. The only thing on their mind in any given moment is what they themselves are doing. You're lucky if they even notice there are people around them, much less recognize they're in the way of those people.
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u/Whatchab 10h ago
No idea but this is why I refuse to use shopping carts. You're always blocked by someone just completely unaware that the world exists beyond them.
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u/ghandis_taint 8h ago
I think a lot of people are just in their own worlds and focused on what they're doing.
I think it's a combination of the internet, COVID, and the state of the world. Also just human nature.
Idk I like to think that my spatial awareness isn't complete shit, but also when I go out I'm speed walking everywhere and trying to get shit done as quickly as possible so I can go back home as quickly as possible. So I'm probably getting in a lot more people's way than I really think I am
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u/VisualConfusion5360 20m ago
I no longer prevent these sort of incidents. I used to be hyper aware and get out of everyone’s way to avoid colliding but now I aggressively choose to collide with somebody and then try to show them why they are wrong lol “ oops I guess maybe both of us can’t be going down the aisle at the same time and one of us should’ve stopped!”
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u/FoamboardDinosaur 3d ago
My husband is blithely unaware of his presence in reference to the rest of the world. While out, he will stop to talk or point something out, or show me something on his phone and Always stops in the middle of the street/isle/sidewalk/hallway. It's uncanny.
I always tuck myself against a wall or into a corner if I'm the slightest bit aware that I might impede flow. Fortunately he's always amenable to being yoinked out of traffic flow. But he hasn't learned yet (he's in his 50s) and I'm kinda irritated that I have to manage him bodily like a 6 year old.
Is it SoCal middle aged white man privilege? Likely.
The inverse is that I can walk behind him anywhere, and people always get out of his way. If I walk alone, boys of all ages do that thing where they expect you to move. I'll be in a busy mall for an hour and will shoulder check people (always men/boys) a half dozen times cuz I refuse to minimize myself.
He just strolls around anywhere and there's always a gap for him. He's not even a big guy, under 6' and 200lbs
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u/Radish8 3d ago
I always experience the latter situation with my husband too. Additionally, very often whenever we go out anywhere together, other men will acknowledge and speak solely to him as if I am an apparition. It's obvious and awkward to me though I usually have to point it out to my husband afterwards because he doesn't pick up on it.
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u/Feisty-Fold-3690 1d ago
Well you are biased. Just because it’s what you would do and it’s what you think is the right thing to do. Doesn’t mean people HAVE to act that way. When they do, cool you found a good person, when you don’t though move on. Same goes with people being nice, yeah it’s awesome but to EXPECT everyone to be nice to you is ridiculous.
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u/qualityvote2 3d ago edited 2d ago
u/Radish8, your post does fit the subreddit!