As I Sit Here…5
As I sit here, back again in One Utama’s Starbucks, a big group of foreigners walked up onto the mini-platform where I and a few others were currently sitting at our respective tables. Imagine my surprise (and annoyance) when one of the kids sat as nonchalantly as you can be into the seat right opposite me at my table.
Now, I don’t know how other cultures are but in Malaysia, you don’t simply plunk yourself down at a table which is currently occupied, even if there’s an empty seat and even if there’s only one person there. You ask permission if you could sit there or if you could take the empty chair. You do not just sit as though it’s your house, it’s a breach of ‘comfort zone’.
What’s ‘comfort zone’? Let me explain. Everyone has a personal space which they would feel uncomfortable if someone comes too close. It’s like how annoyed you feel when you’re lining up and the person behind you keeps standing too close to you. It’s like how weird you feel when a total stranger walks side by side with you. My comfort zone is extremely large when I’m out alone and when I’m sitting down in a cafe or restaurant, my comfort zone spans the entire table that I am at, regardless of its size. So yes, you are breaching my comfort zone if you’re a stranger and you sit unwanted and uninvited at my table. Shoo!!
People might find my need for personal space unfriendly and rude but that is how it is. Would you like it if you ordered a meal and I invade your table by taking some of your food without asking and without being offered any? Would you like it if I breath down your neck while lining up to buy movie tickets? Would you like it if I keep jumping and dancing into you at a concert? Would you like it if I stretch my hands out into your face in the cinema? Yes, now you understand the need for personal space and the importance of ‘comfort zone’.
You know what I’m most disappointed in regarding this matter? The parents are right there, not four feet away, and they didn’t say a single thing to their ’space-breaching’ son. 
