don't stand so close to me

it´s a simple request, really.

it starts out in a polite tone of voice: ¨i´m sorry, would you mind not standing directly behind me? it really un-nerves me to have someone right there where i can´t see them. thanks. i appreciate it.¨

then it moves into the realm of slightly annoyed with a tight smile: ¨no, i really am not kidding. i did ask you nicely to step to one side or the other. please don´t stand directly behind me.¨

then it gets ugly. ¨i am not overly concerned with why you think you have the right to stand behind me and breathe down my neck when you know i am uncomfortable. no i will not run this x-ray machine until you step to one side or the other. now i am really freaked out by your presence. please. yes, do call a supervisor over here. explain to them and me and all these passengers why you cannot take one step to the left or right. i am not holding up the line; i am quite willing to do my job as soon as you get out from behind me.¨

for some reason, this particular dude has issues with female co-workers. he likes us quiet and submissive; two things i am not and likely will never be. while i have not had this particular run-in with him, a friend of mine did today. she is neither quiet nor submissive. in fact, she is quite possibly one of the most outspoken women i have ever met. however happy or angry she may be, her tone is always the same: level and loud.

i just don´t understand why dude couldn´t take one step to the left or right. did he enjoy making her uncomfortable? was it a power trip thing? did he think that since there was a long line of passengers she would just acquiesce and let him settle under her skin like a little parasite?

i heard her ask dude politely twice to step aside. he dismissed her by telling her to just do her job. he even waved his hand at her like she was a little bug. and remained in place. which was actually in pretty much everyone´s way. i had to duck through the conversation no less than four times in the 2 minutes it took to get a supervisor involved. and there were about eight other people in that area trying to ¨do their job.¨

the supervisor arrived on the scene. she told him her problem. ¨i would simply like him to move slightly to one side or the other. it really bothers me to have someone standing directly behind me. that´s all i´m asking. if the president himself were standing here, i would ask the same of him.¨ the supervisor asked dude to move. he did not. so the supervisor took over the x-ray machine. and asked them both to leave. dude was pissed.

it really was a simple request.

and i pretty much would have done the same thing.