Elbow room

What a nightmarish image.

I like a bit of elbow room...actually, a LOT of elbow room. Generally speaking, I don't like crowded places - although I can brave the hordes from time to time if I really want to go to a certain place or see an event that I know will have lots of other people there.

I'd rather eat broken glass, however, than jump into a pool like the one in the picture. For one thing, I'm sure to injure somebody if I do something really stupid like jump into that can of sardines. Second, why do the swimmers have floaters? The pool is too jampacked for anybody to have enough space to actually drown in! Also, that pool must have been one heck of a big, warm spot...if you know what I mean. Shudder, shudder, and shudder again. Hand me some broken glass, please.

My preference for solitude and space is one of the reasons I've never really enjoyed going to popular beaches. The most popular ones here are beautiful, I'll give them that. But they're not my thing, really. Good thing there are so many other beaches here that remain relatively "undiscovered."

My own personal, physical space. I hold it sacred and inviolate. Any person who enters it unbidden runs the risk of experiencing indescribable pain and trauma (or a head butt at the very least).

Unless it's someone I love and trust, of course.