Do not sit so close to me.

PositionBus Travel

You are on a bus, and one of the only free seats is next to you. How--and why--do you stop another passenger from sitting there? Research reveals the tactics commuters use to avoid each other, a practice described as "nonsocial transient behavior" by Esther Kim, a researcher in the Department of Sociology at Yale University, New Haven, Conn., Who chalked up thousands of miles of bus travel to examine the unspoken rules and behaviors of commuters.

"We live in a world of strangers, where life in public spaces feels increasingly anonymous. However, avoiding other people actually requires quite a lot of effort and this is especially true in confined spaces like public transport."

Kim found that the greatest unspoken rule of bus travel is that if other seats are available you should not sit next to someone else. As the passengers explained, "It makes you look weird." When all the rows are filled and more passengers are getting aboard, the seated passengers initiate a strategic performance to avoid having anyone sit next to them.

"We engage in all sorts of behavior to avoid others, pretending to be busy, checking phones...

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