I pretty much always toss out, “Excuse me” whether I’m the bumpor or the bumpee and move on. In social situations, I do touch shoulders and elbows and hands, maybe even a knee, but only if I feel that the individual will not be uncomfortable.
Several incidents have transpired over the years, but Mr. C’s post brought a good one to mind. I kept my desk against a wall and had a large table that I worked on in the center of my office. One day a very attractive marketing rep, whom I’d known for a few years, came to visit and show me some maps of data she was promoting.
She sat across the table from me, spread out the maps and started telling me the details. Suddenly, I felt her toes grasp my leg right above the ankle. And they began slowly wriggling their way up my leg. Above the table, everything is normal - she’s talking about the data and I’m asking questions.
And the toes are climbing.
Whoa! This is bizarre. She’s married, I know her husband, she’s not looking at me in a suggestive manner. I notice a geologist passing in the hallway who looks in my door; his eyes widen, then he looks straight ahead and walks away briskly.
I can feel the smoke coming out of my ears as my brain digests the cognitive dissonance. I have other sensations as well during the full four minutes or so that this is going on. Finally, she crests the kneecap, withdraws rapidly and says, “Oh my god, was that your leg?”
She departed hastily and I can only surmise that, after a full day making the rounds on a summer day, her feet were itching and she meant to avail herself of the table leg.
Ah well, you take your cheap thrills where you can get 'em.
