Your Politeness Is a Public Health Hazard
Social distancing is challenging everything we know about what it means to be nice
He had to have heard me the first time. My voice is naturally loud, and I know it carries. Plus, I’d made it a point to enunciate so he would understand me from halfway down the aisle.
But still, he says, “What?” and walks toward me. I repeat myself quickly. “Sorry, what?” he says again, taking more steps that bring him well within six feet of me.
“Where can I find canned tuna?” I ask for a third time, my belly tight, blood starting to pump in a fight-or-flight kind of way. It’s the last thing on my long list of pantry staples, and I’m desperate to finish, get out of this store full of strangers, and retreat to the safety of my own home.
The employee, now standing way too close, gestures to a shelf a few feet down the aisle — basically right in front of my face. And then he laughs, and I flinch, instantly thinking about all the droplets he’s just sent sailing into the air between us.
A few weeks ago, I wouldn’t have given the exchange a second thought. I’d have laughed back, made a self-deprecating joke, maybe sparked a quick conversation. I’m extroverted like that. But in the midst of a global health crisis, this tiny nothing of an…
