Member-only story
“Don’t Stand So Close To Me”
Okay, so OF COURSE there’s going to be the requisite song of the same name by The Police at the end of this, DUH ;) But, for right now, it’s this:
As a woman, I so often feel as if my private space is being infringed upon.
Sometimes, this would be welcome, as in: if I were to be walking and Benedict Cumberbatch kept bumping into me (this would be the exception though, rather than the rule). Seriously, I’m a rather petite 5"5 thin build, and I can often feel swamped in a crowd of people. I remember one time, years ago, when I attended a Thievery Corporation concert, and my boyfriend at the time made a point of saying, as we tried to move closer to the front stage, “Out of the way! Petite person!!” PS- I do NOT like the word “short” to describe my lack of distinctive height, no -non- nyet, so “petite.”
It always sounds so much more…polite…I think…
But, as this type of woman interacting in the world, it can be quite fraught.
We’re not exactly “brought up” as women to say to someone: “Please don’t stand so close to me” are we? But, with age, comes wisdom, so they say.
I don’t hesitate to say this now (except of course to Benedict Cumberbatch who I am SURE would be ever so polite about it anyway) to anyone who knowingly or not, makes me feel uncomfortable in that creepy…
