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Unbelievable
I am currently engaged in one of the strangest discussions I have ever seen on the ConJose mailing list, A newbie ask for advise on how to enjoy his first World Con, and the comments flowed into convention etiquette. I mentioned that some people (like me) dislike being hugged without warning, so please ask first.
So far, I've been told that I need to see a shrink, been accused in private mail of being psychopathic, and told that if this person sees me they will hug me, consequences be damned.
Why is it so bloody hard for people to realize and accept that I just do not like being touched? Why do I have to wear a button that says Ask Before Hugging? What does it say about fandom that there is a market for these buttons?
To be clear: I understand and accept inadvertent contact like you get in crowded elevators and queues. Being tapped on the shoulder in a noisy place, is okay. But unless I have invited any other form of contact, please do not assume that I want to hug you! I have very good reasons for this.
Christ, I may get a spiked jacket at this rate.
So far, I've been told that I need to see a shrink, been accused in private mail of being psychopathic, and told that if this person sees me they will hug me, consequences be damned.
Why is it so bloody hard for people to realize and accept that I just do not like being touched? Why do I have to wear a button that says Ask Before Hugging? What does it say about fandom that there is a market for these buttons?
To be clear: I understand and accept inadvertent contact like you get in crowded elevators and queues. Being tapped on the shoulder in a noisy place, is okay. But unless I have invited any other form of contact, please do not assume that I want to hug you! I have very good reasons for this.
Christ, I may get a spiked jacket at this rate.
Ummm...
My father was from Devon, you realize? I was raised on British adventure stories, British science-fiction and Brtish humor. There was, alas, a small bit of British cuisine involved as well.
This is probably part of the reason I dislike being touched. We weren't an overly expressive family.
Re: Ummm...
I had a supervisor from Pittsburgh that, before he became a supervisor, I had to keep picking up certain termite accounts from because he irked these people...
...Turns out, 90% of them were from the MidWest or other places where his standing 2 feet away to talk to them was considered rude.
My Future-Ex-Mother-in-Law was born in Britain...
...Not too much English cuisine though.
(BTW, todkaninchen is German for "death rabbit(s)"... an homage to the little white bunny in a classic Monty Python film...
...a personal favorite, aloung with HHGTTG, Red Dwarf, Dr. Who and many others...
...Otherwise, I might have never associated "Queu" with being British.)