Funny… I can’t think of a way to make it not sound creepy.
Reminds me of the “Dopplegangerland” episode of Buffy, where Cordelia is talking to a vampire, who is staring hungrily at her neck. She notices the stare, and asks if she has something on her neck, to which the vamp replies, “not yet”.
I would find it funny, regardless of how it was said.
Anyway, it sounds like she was doing a passive-aggressive “You’re in my way”, and got a lot less than she bargained for.
What is your reply to “Can I ask you a question?”
Favorite joke when I was a kid.
Q: Have you lived here all your life?
A: Not yet.
I would have laughed at your answer.
I think so too.
I’m also starting to think you’re my evil twin or something.
Jesus, I know someone who always prefaces a question, any question, with this. I say, “You just did.”
Card etiquette. When picking out a card the one who is there first gets to remain there until they pick a card. She was being pushy to say, 'Am I in your way?. She could have said, “excuse me” but that would still be pushy. I just wait until the person has made a selection or moved away to start looking at the cards. I may be wrong but it’s annoying to have someone looking over your shoulder when trying to pick out a card.
I would have ignored her. You don’t sound like a serial killer at all. She put you on the spot!
There’s card etiquette*? :eek: Are there etiquette rules for shopping in the scrapbooking section of Michaels, too?
It’s not so much a set of rules as it is what you generally observe if you watch people in the card isle. Occasionally you’ll see a hasty shopper who will say something like “I’m sorry, but I really need that card. I’m really in a hurry. Do you mind?” But that is not the norm.
Plus, if someone is close enough to be looking over your shoulder, then they are already violating your personal space–something that actually does apply in all situations. There’s really no way to ask permission to do it. You either wait your turn, or say something like the above to give the person a chance to move to where they would be comfortable.
As for what happened here: I think the lady went ahead and violated what appeared to be the OP’s personal space bubble, but didn’t realize it until after the fact. She was saying “Am I in your way?” to acknowledge her mistake. The response, being different than usual and delivered without the characteristic acknowledging smile, made her think she had offended, and she made a hasty retreat to keep from offending further.
(emphasis mine) :eek: That’s what you would call creepy.
Yes, there’s card etiquette - it’s similar to clothes rack shopping etiquette. 
Hm…maybe that’s why I have no friends. 
Well, Asperger’s and being a serial killer aren’t mutually exclusive. 
When I got to your response, I laughed. Not sure what I would’ve done in person, it probably would have depended on your tone more than anything else.
At which point the proper way to respond would have been " Nope, view is getting better by the second".