The chances are that you commute to work. Many of us will use public transport to make that journey. For some of us that could be quite a long journey by train each morning, slowly waking up with strangers all around us.
No one is in the mood to engage in conversation with the other commuters around them are they? It’s just not done. Instead we politely jostle to create our own space that no one else will invade. Don’t even think about stretching out your legs under my side of the table. Get your arm off my arm rest!
Once settled into our little safe haven amongst all these strangers we probably used to read a paper or a book, maybe even snooze. Now we crack open the black box or the smartphone and hey presto!
Suddenly we enter a world where we’re engaging with a myriad of strangers! Sending emails to people we work with but probably don’t really know. Tweeting with other people who we may never meet but building relationships and friendships. Talking without speaking.
Feels great doesn’t it? We’re working, learning, sharing, reading – fulfilling some essential needs in a way that we choose. Forget the boundaries we’ve put around our physical space – come over to my side of the table!
And next to us the person who got on at the last stop has just started snoring quietly. She’s fast asleep and I don’t mind. It’s funny the strangers we wake up with.
