May Contain Peanuts

Hey!

Around 12:30 this afternoon, I make the month-long awaited trek to my local Wacky-ovia. It's payday, ninjas! Now, it's lunch time, and I understand there are plenty of people in the area that have a similar errand written down on the mental lunchtime to-do list. So, I pull up to the bank and conveniently park right in front of the Automated Teller Machine to find it in miduse, so I wait patiently and enjoy my recently acquired Chiodos album. The patron finishes and I step out to use the machine next. As I punch the numbers and stuff my envelope (full of checks, the 's' indicating 2) a line develops behind me, waiting to use this machine. To note, this branch has another ATM about 15 feet further down the wall, which was also in use. My boeuf is with this newly formed line. I will give that the ATM was located 2 feet away from the main entrance to the bank, so an easy spot to start a line for use would be right behind it. But when it comes to financial matters, I feel a certain amount of personal space is required, nay, NECESSARY. It's bad enough when someone is looming behind you at a salad bar, let alone a place of personal information, and the ruler of the world, that being the institution known as money.

So me, the apathetic/passive type as usual says nothing and hurries to finish my transaction. I grab my receipt (which I always get, still not sure why) check the balance I already have calculated, and return to my car, conveniently parked in front as I mentioned earlier. I look back and notice that the line has shifted up, yet no extra space has been created. The guy behind the guy behind me has replaced him exactly, and another has taken his place.

My question is, am I alone in this feeling? How much space is appropriate for a line for an ATM. I can understand a single file line starting about 5 feet away. This is not a queue for fast food or football tickets. I make sure not to invade one's space when it is a concern of personal information, as there is nothing more awkward then the nonchalant slight hand covering, just in case the stranger has eyes of an eagle transplanted into his head. If I come to that crossroad, I go for the unnoticed body position shift, as to place the stranger, me and the object of information in a straight line, eclipsing the piercing view of my valued item.

What is great in this realm of topic is the rarely seen, though common in urban areas, ATM booth, where you enter a door and step into a one person box to conduct your activities. This is the ideal situation for this matter. Go in, you alone, do your business, and everyone knows where to stand and when you're done. Unfortunately, the typical bank design in the suburbs fares better for the driver and not the pedestrian, therefore the almighty booth is subverted for the ATM-in-the-wall that conveniently fits within the masonry of the bank's box layout. Now perhaps this is merely a derivative of time, meaning these older 'box' suburb banks are old, and if it isn't broke, it won't be fixed; letting newer banks being constructed have the luxury of designed ATM booths. This is fine with me, I just need to find a newer bank. But getting back to the original question, is there an inherent amount of space that shoudl be observed in cases like these or is this question a result of the overprivatization of our personal lives and the forced paranoia of identity and financial robbery and crime? Yeah, that last sentence sounded like it came right off a Fox News 10 o clock headline, but I think it raises a good point. Is every guy standing right behind you at an ATM looking to steal your PIN? Not likely. Is that why I dont want him right behind me? Not really. It's more of a 'get the f off me' feeling, as in 'you'll have your turn, give me some space'. There's something about closeness that increases stress and uneasiness. There has to be some sort of physics postulate about this. Think of the subway: you see a crowd inside the cars - immediate frown, you see an empty car - you smile as you actually get to sit down. I want that smile as I conduct my financially automated business. Respect the 5 feet!