Oct 09 2002
Personal Space
You know your mailman reads your postcards, don’t you? Yet I was surprised to actually catch one in the act yesterday on my way home. This federal employee was not in my own neighborhood, but a neighboring neighborhood, and was leaning casually against the postcard owner’s door, reading it while having a relaxing cigarette. Somehow, it seemed just a little beyond the casual glance while putting the postcard in the destination mailbox, which would be acceptable even to Miss Manners, I think.
It’s like how people seem to feel it’s perfectly acceptable to look at whatever is on your computer screen when they come over to talk to you, either in your office or in your home. Now, if I’m doing anything even remotely personal, such as email, or writing this blog – things I would never do on my employer’s time, just like a mailman would never take a smoke break and read other people’s mail on his employer’s time – I minimize that window and try to look productive (it helps to always have actual work going at the same time so the switch is fast & easy, the way I like nearly everything). Though my observation is that most people don’t, and that they don’t seem to mind other people checking out what’s on their computer screen.
So the question is: where and what are the personal boundaries?
3 Responses to “Personal Space”
Was at a talk by the late Douglas Adams (of HHGTTG fame) on the internet a few years back. Part of his talk was about privacy in the future.
He said that privacy is dead. It is an old concept that wont fit the way society changes. Whether you agree with him or not it makes for interesting debate.
It’s a refreshing change when anyone exhibits normal, healthy boundaries anymore.
I’m amazed at the personal questions I get from my neighbours, for example. They don’t so much as send me a holiday card once a year, but are they comfortable grilling me about when (never if, mind you) Shawn and I will have kids? You bet! 😉
My neighbors are really awesome people, but I’m almost positive that they spy continuously on this house. They just somehow can always manage to know everything. Weird.