Space
While waiting inside McDonald’s Philcoa, I spied upon the discussion of three college girls for their school work.
Their research is about the distinction between the various levels of intimacy between people, particularly between males and females.
It turns out that their topic is about the study of proxemics, or the delineation of the various levels of distance accepted between people, such as intimate space, personal space, public space, and so forth.
Being a little versed in the subject (little in the sense that I do not recall all of the levels of proxemics itself, especially the numerical values identified by Hall, the author of the said study), I decided to eavesdrop on their conversation and awaited for a moment for me to share my knowledge.
But later on I decided not to intervene in their private group discussion, as butting in on their group would be, in itself, breaking their private space bubbles.
Space for me is a very sacred definition. Being trained in my profession to be sensitive to the needs of man for efficient circulation and carrying out of his tasks through the provision of adequate space, I find that I myself need to provide some level of sensitivity to the need for space of people around me.
A dilemma has engulfed me within my workspace for quite some time now, with the introduction of my coffee maker to the office. The idea for “coffee time” was then created, wherein two to four P.M. in the afternoon would be “dedicated” to making, serving and enjoying coffee. Such a simple idea actually, but it became complicated in my part since I have to share space with the coffee maker and the people wanting to get coffee. I have to evict myself from my work place in order to give way to the various condiments, food and other necessities included in carrying out our daily enjoyment. Not that I am complaining though, since we get to enjoy coffee which is competitive to coffee serve at the local Starbucks or other coffee shops.
What bothers me is that people would lounge around near my work bubble, to the point that my work efficiency is usually affected, to the point that I can’t swivel my arm chair, or when I leave for a few seconds, somebody would get my chair. There was one incident where everybody was enjoying themselves while I have a very deadly deadline, and I just can’t help but curse out loud the annoyance nearest to me, which is the ringing telephone.
But all difficult times must come to an end, and the coffee maker was transferred to the vacant table next to me. Not much of an improvement, but at least my work efficiency greatly improved.
I guess we have to adjust to situations such as these. What Edward Hall did point out that the distance levels are also culture dependent. In our case, we did have one thing that binds us together culturally, “pakikisama”, and also, our frustrations in our boss and work. Kudos go out to the coffee making team of our office, for our bonding sessions continue on with the help of our common love for coffee.
So I am off to my next challenge in keeping my personal space.
Edward Hall did mention one more component of his study that should be greatly considered, not just by space planners but by all people: the concept of territoriality, which goes beyond need for space, but by ownership of space. Now that, is another topic.
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