for flowerbeds are like conversational death traps

Personal and cultural awareness thought, via FFA:

I was a cultural awareness class (nothing to do with Poles specifically) that had an example of the 'spaces' differences leading people awry. There was a hotel that had people constantly falling into their flower beds, till they investigated some and found out that it apparently occurred when persons accustomed to wide space interaction and persons accustomed to small space interaction met. The wide space people backed away to get more space and the small space people kept following to maintain the close connect. Eventually the wide space people ended up in the flower beds. - Nonny, FFA

I'm trying to decide if I'm Person Who Falls Into Flowerbed or Person Who Pursues Person Into Flowerbed and it's a toss-up. I think I would be Falls-Into-Flowerbed, but social anxiety can and does nail me into position every so often (it's random) where an earthquake wouldn't move me and you might crawl in my lap (not that I'm against this) and I won't move to save my life.

I'm also from the South, so I'm used to small space interaction to the point I have no idea if I naturally like it only that my body automatically assumes that position and God help me. The South (or Texas) also has the time-honored tradition of gossiping at the correct decibel so the person beside you (ie Gossip Subject) cannot hear, so there's that.

Currently, I'm breaking into hysterical laughter at the idea of watching this in action at this hotel. It's like everyone's in an unwitting horror movie lead-up, and half of them don't realize they're Michael Meyers slow-stalking the person who has no idea they're the latest victim until flowerbed dive.

So are you Flowerbed Michael Meyers or Flowerbed Victim One (or are you the Flowerbed of Retreat??????)? It's Friday and I literally cannot think of anything more useful to do with my time than get an answer to this pressing question.

Comments

[green_grrl]

My first instinct is to say flowerbed victim, because it is soooo easy to picture that socially clueless person getting closer and closer—run away! But if it's someone I'm really clicking with, closer doesn't bother me. I have the hard-of-hearing thing, too, but I tend to keep my body far away and bend forward at the waist, ear-towards-mouth, and then straighten back up again. No inching my whole me forward.

I'm also from the South, so I'm used to small space interaction to the point I have no idea if I naturally like it only that my body automatically assumes that position and God help me.

Hee! Regionalism makes it all relative. Like the difference between a "slow" talker and a "fast" talker in the South versus in New York.

[reginagiraffe]

I always say, "I don't talk too fast, they just listen too slow." :D

I suspect I would be a flower bed diver. More than once I've had to verbally ("Could you please back up a step or two; you're looming and I don't like it.") or physically ("Oops, sorry for putting my elbow in your solar plexus, I didn't realize you were that close.") get people to back off.

[seperis]

Argh,comment below was meatn for person above you. This comment was for you!

Hee! Regionalism makes it all relative. Like the difference between a "slow" talker and a "fast" talker in the South versus in New York.

Me, my sisters, and Child speak our own language according ot people who know us when it comes to speed. Apparently we lose all the consonants when we really get going.