In the way?

Post Reply New Topic

Does it seem you are frequently told you are standing in somebody's way especially in a social situation?

It seems to me NTs have an instinctive ability to avoid being in others' way.

I'm not in social situations enough for that to actually happen!

But I always feel like other people are in my way – like walking slowly in the middle of the sidewalk so it's impossible to pass them, and then when I try they give me a dirty look. (Not that I'm good at interpreting expressions, so maybe they're smiling and I just don't know it? Gah, it's just really awkward!)

It happens to me a lot, but then I have the annoying habit of leaning against door posts.

Me too.

I often feel like I am either in the way or that people are in my way.

LOL!! I do that too!

People do get in my way a lot. I think it's because I'm just getting from A to B, whereas it seems like people just like to linger and gossip as though they've got all the time in the world.

I do find myself ushering people along when I'm walking down a busy street or if I'm in the supermarket. It's because I just need to get away from the hustle bustle of it all.

(Quote Ashariel) "I always feel like other people are in my way – like walking slowly in the middle of the sidewalk so it's impossible to pass them, and then when I try they give me a dirty look."

Yep, I get this! Still, the reason might have in part to do with the fact that I generally like to walk at cougar speed. They do love walking slowly in the middle of sidewalks don't they, haha. Or starting up conversations right in front of atm's.

Not really...I'm more conscious than most about where I am and whether I might be in the way, so it only really happens in confined areas where I'm not sure where to be (and then it's more a case of me trying to get out of the way rather than people telling me I'm in the way). I find that other people are in the way of me much more frequently, and they don't care.

Do you ever do that thing where someone's walking towards you in the street and you both do a funny kind of side to side dance on approach, so as not to crash into each other.

That can be a bit awkward

The sidewalk shuffle I believe they call it.

Ha! Yes, I'm always in the way! It's usually when I'm out in public, like in shops, etc. When I'm in an older person's way, I always feel patronised, especially if they make me out to be in their way when rightfully I'm clearly not in anybody's way. It's like I look so youthful that older people seem to think they can shove me out of their way and make me feel like I'm 5 years old.

Being in people's way is one of the things I hate the most. I feel like a big, clumsy, awkward oaf all the time. I have been asked in a critical way, ''does it matter? Why do you hate it so much?'' The answer is, I just do. It's just another thing that I stress over, another one of those things what I stress over what other people don't even think about. I just do that sometimes, my brain focuses too much on one thing and it causes distress whenever it happens, like it's the end of the world. Yes, I do need therapy.

I remember when I was a teenager, if I was with a friend or relative in a shop and were just behind them waiting for them to look at what they came into the shop to get, I would stand there and day dream, just get completely lost in my thoughts. Then suddenly someone would creep up from behind me and say, ''excuse me, please'', and it would make me jump. Then I would step out of the way, only to realise I was standing in the wrong place where people needed to get by. I have learnt not to stand in the way, but now I have become the opposite; I focus too much on where I am standing and I'm always looking out to see where people are going so that I can avoid being in anyone's way. It doesn't always work - I still get in the way, but at least I can move before they say ''excuse me''. The trouble is, it makes shopping very hard for me to focus on.

Me too.
What really gets me is when I'm behind someone who's walking at a snail's pace, and I try to get past them on one side, and they sort of drift diagonally to the side that I'm trying to walk past on. I swear these people have some kind of instinct that makes them able to be as obstructionistic as possible.

Another infuriating thing is groups of teenage girls who walk 5 abreast, really slowly, taking up the entire path.

I do this a lot - and not just on sidewalks!

Yes. It's something I never realized until my wife pointed it out to me.

I'm tall, but I'm not wide. I don't take up a lot of space laterally, but, I'm still in people's way at gatherings---and even at home in the kitchen, if we're both in there.