I can’t but complain to Y’all about this… Have you ever tried to pull-out cash from an ATM Machine in Lebanon only to have the next person in line, stand right by your side or right behind you, obnoxiously peering in to your screen while you’re sorting out your finances!? You try to convince yourself at first that this person is either lost or confused and probably just double-checking to see whether this ATM is in fact an ATM.
But when you start feeling their breath on your shoulder you realize that this person plans on making you hurry so that they can use the machine sooner.
I turn around and usually glare at the person, you know the “ get the hell away from me” look, but they just don’t freakin get it. They look at you with either empty eyes or shoot you an annoyed look stopping just short of telling you “KHALSEENA!”
Yesterday I just couldn’t take it anymore and yelled at the man standing side-by-side to me. I asked him if he wanted to “ insert my pin” since he was so set on sharing this experience with me. He just mumbled something weird and didn’t move.
Have you ever walked into a pharmacy hoping to have a private conversation with the pharmacist about a medical condition only to suddenly find the next customer suddenly appear next to you bluntly listening to your conversation? Better yet, when that person gets impatient he/she starts moving even closer until they decide to shove their prescription between you and the pharmacist.
Why are these incidents so frequent in Lebanon- why do a lot of people try to cut you off in line, why can’t we wait for conversations to be over before we jump in? Which brings me to the question: why is the concept of personal space so foreign? Or do we simply just not care? Bisoux
britinbeirut says
[i]Why are these incidents so frequent in Lebanon- why do a lot of people try to cut you off in line, why can’t we wait for conversations to be over before we jump in? [/i]
Because nobody stops you / them.
ritakml says
LOL so freaking true. Also happens when you’re talking to the surgeon out of the operation room!!
fadi says
I’m driving kinda close to you, and I need more space, so je klaxonne 2 times, that means move the hell out of this spot on the street! I don’t care if you were here before me, or that is where you are driving right now, in fact I don’t care about you, your space or your car, move from here, I am solely what’s important.
Pazuzu HSP says
lol, I had my mother come into the room with me when the gyno was checking my breasts, she was making comments and discussing them (won’t disclose details for your own mental safety)… looks and kind comments didn’t work, I had to have a looooong conversation about privacy and self-image and personal space and other crap for like a whole fucking hour, for her she was just making sure that I am ok, even if I was 22
abaretruth says
it happens everywhere, at banks, post office, amen il 3amm, etc.
i feel that in their little head they believe they are entitled to finish whatever it is first even if they step on
Dani says
This is spot on! The pharmacy is the worst! I went there once trying to have a private conversation with the pharmacist,,and I asked for a medication by its typical American name, and instead of asking me quietly what I meant, he loudly asks so that everyone in the pharmacy could here, “WHAT IS THIS “NAME OF MEDICATION?” I was soo embarrassed that I ran out of the pharmacy, determined never to go back in!
Farah says
hahaha so true, and it doesn’t happen in Lebanon only and trust me there are other nationalities that are far worse. ba3den it not only with strangers, even friends and family talk to you by standing much closer than I’m comfortable with! I really don’t want to know what you had for lunch by smelling it straight out of your mouth , eww.
annie says
Let me tell you why this incidents are frequent in Lebanon because here people are freakin nosyyyyyy
Fadi says
You read Cyanide & Happiness ! 🙂
Johnny.B says
It always happens with me, due to my work i meet more than 50 prs a day, and hate it when people stand closer to you, with a stinky breathe that i’m definitly sure they don’t know about, and when i start to move away they get closer :S … sometimes i feel i have two options either faint, or hit them, but always at the last moment something happens and they leave 😀
sean says
Hahahah ever tried to pay for condoms in a pharmacy here in Leb? (Girls rarely do here) I swear everytime I do I hear giggles (if the person behind me is a girl) or loud laugh (if it’s guy or an old man who’d probably get a heart attack if he gets laid) … I once looked back at a woman and gave her the big “di3ayit Crest” smile while waving the box in front of my face… She was gonna faint! 😀