2y ago

I wish I knew, for my entire life, why people will choose to sit in any other seat before they choose to sit near me on transit. Do I exude autism?

See title.

I'm clean, don't scream or stare, I stay reading my phone...it's just damned weird.

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Public seating follows the same rules as urinals.
- Except less people piss on them
  
  you mean the urinals?
  
  Depends on the city
This is called the "bus rule" around here, you don't sit beside someone if there's a still a set of seats you can have to yourself.
I'd be more worried if they did sit beside you, as that'd be considered a bit creepy.
- There’s also a bit more at play with the bus rule.
  Take a seat in an empty row first
  Not in front of someone that looks sketchy
  Not immediately behind someone particularly attractive unless other rows are full (can be creepy)
  If you must share a row don’t sit next to the meth head OR the young girl.
  Don’t sit towards the rear when there’s a group of troublemakers on the rearmost seats.
  Do sit near exits but preferably one row behind others so you’re not the first person noticed by someone sketchy
  There’s more but a lot of optimisation, particularly lo safety and social comfort, goes into selecting the best seating and neurotypical people do it completely subconsciously.
Are there other empty groups of seats? I find people generally spread out to avoid others.
It's certainly something I do. I'll sit next to someone (choosing the least talkative looking people first) only if there is no other choice.
Do you sit near others, even within a few seats, or generally as separate as possible? Most people in my experience sit away from others. If I see someone sitting near/engaging with strangers I generally assume some mixture of mental illness or ill intentions/scammy behavior.
I do not think it is you at all. I am on the autism spectrum myself and I purposely sit away from others because being boxed in by other people causes me to be way overstimulated. I don't believe it is intended to be a slight against you, rather it's just people's preferences.
People leave a space between them and someone else to have some personal space and respect other’s personal space
That's kinda normal in my experience. People leave 1-3 seats between each other if the train is empty.
Are you heavy? That can be a reason, as bigger people simply take up more seating space.
Any face tattoos?
- Just the two tear drops and a four legged plus sign :)
Happens the same to me. I learned to give a single f. I even find it a bliss, some people smell bad, are with the headphones killing their eardrums, pushing me because their are too big, farting, whatever… is not a pleasant experience one would want to do on purpose.
I prefer to sit alone if possible
Do you play loud music?

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