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There are times when
you just don’t want to be that close to a person. For example,
on the bus after
a long day, squeezed up against sweaty Arizonians. Rank air that wraps around
germaphobic nostrils. As the bus starts moving, a kind gentleman offers you his
seat and you gladly take it. All is well until that feeling when you sit down
and realize it’s warm. A toasty imprint of a complete stranger’s underside.
Unintended intimacy from someone’s body heat
on your butt.
This has always weirded me out. Sitting in a chair that a
stranger recently occupied and feeling the warmth touch me. I just don’t want
to be that close to a stranger, even if they aren’t there anymore. It just
feels too close, too personal and too intimate.
Then there’s the “warm
toilet” incident. You know, standing in line in the bathrooms after a movie. Going
to sit down when it’s your turn and then it hits you. Warmth. I can’t help but
sense it and wish I didn’t.
But then, if I like
the person and they offer me their seat, then it’s just awkward. It’s literally
their warm butt heat touching my behind. It’s like snuggling with a ghost, it creeps up on me. I smile politely but sense that underlying closeness. It
sounds crazy and probably is, but this is what I’m always thinking when I sit in
another person’s chair. An intimate and heated encounter left behind.
The term “I’ll keep
it warm for you” takes on a whole new meaning.
Hi Pepper. I really enjoyed reading your witty and thoughtful commentary on a subject that I think most of us who use public spaces will relate to. While we may frequently have similar thoughts, we seldom put voice to them, tending instead to react to such odious necessities on auto -pilot, without giving much thought to how our responses are tied to our feelings. But in your piece "Unintended Intimacy," (great title by the way) you have found a way to illuminate a rather delicate subject with honesty and humor, aptly describing the visceral feelings tied to a necessary but often repugnant activity; the use of public seating. In relating some of your own encounters with unintended intimacy, you brought me right into the experience with you and made me laugh out loud (several times) as I found myself identifying with your spot-on observations of the conflict of emotions brought on by the need to take advantage of public seating, and the resulting effort to quell a desire to avoid an unnatural closeness with strangers. It was delightfully fun. I hope you find time to write about more of your musings on the mundane activities of everyday experiences, as you bring a great deal of refreshing wit and insight into your writing, accomplishing a nice balance overall. Thanks for sharing this piece - I liked it very much and so did Andy!
ReplyDeleteThank you! I enjoyed writing it and often found myself laughing at it too!
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