15 February 2020
W06 Personal Space Differences

I watched a video on how people in Japan are crammed into the subway trains. I could not deal with that. Does anyone faint from not being able to breathe or all the perfume smells on the train? I was on the ‘tube’ or subway in England and we had to stop in a tunnel because of some accident. I had a seat and the tube was not crowded, but it was difficult to breathe because the carriage we were on was shut down and it was hot and humid, since nothing worked. Thank goodness we did not have to spend too much time in there.

It’s common in the United States that people have an invisible bubble zone that they call their private space. No one is supposed to come into that zone without being invited. How do they deal with that in crowded NY walking space? Some space is obviously marked by the space in a bedroom or a home. To enter that space, we usually knock on the door if that space is not owned by ourselves. Years ago, women had hoop skirts on and no one could enter to close to them since the hoops were in the way.

Some of the following are examples of personal space in different situations and this is according to a article I read on https://westsidetoastmasters.com/resources/book_of_body_language/chap9.html.                                       

1.     “The Intimate Zone” is 6-18 inches circular space and is the space you decide who comes into.

2.     “The Personal Zone” is about 18-48 9nches around you. This is considered the space you want at different gatherings.

3.     “The Social Zone” about 4-12 feet around you. This is for those we do not know very well.

4.     “The Public Zone” is over 12 feet. When we are speaking to a gathering of people.

Surely this thinking can not always work when we live in this world, we are in. We might all have to have a big piece of land if we would demand all this space. Some people go to rock concerts and I am sure there is not that much space for everyone. Then again, people are choosing to be in this small space. Common people in England prefer to live close to another. Like one English friend of mine someone, they live on top of one another. The same person told me she did not like North America because there was too much space everywhere.

In the Icelandic culture we did not go in line and wait our turn, we just pushed our way through. Then people were told to wait their turn and not push. Now Icelanders wait in line and do not step over the painted line on the ground to give others their space. We had to be told what to do and learn new ways of using the space around us. We should respect that someone needs their space. In the classroom this can be difficult, but we can work around it by understanding the desk is your space. You do not take things that do not belong to you, without asking first. Rules need to be established in the classroom and the teacher and the learners need to discuss this.