Why Personal Space Matters: Trust and Red Flags

Daily writing prompt

What personality trait in people raises a red flag with you?

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If you invade my space and I don’t know you.

Call it an old habit. I like to keep a defensive area around me. After all, I was usually carrying a weapon or two in my former professions and old habits die hard. I didn’t need anyone even trying for one of them.

So, for someone to just walk up to me and get close, puts me in red alert, right there. The shields go up. The Battle Stations alert goes off in my head, and I’ll step away to keep that space. That offends some people.

It offends them even more when you let them know they made me a little uncomfortable. I’ve even pushed a few people away.

To get inside that perimeter is a space reserved for close family or people I know and trust.

I guess it goes back to what we used to say on the streets. “In God we trust. Everyone else is viewed with suspicion.”