“What Would You Do? COVID Edition”

photo by Victoria Pickering

“Dear PoPville,

I had an *interesting* interaction last night and I wondered what others thought/would do in that situation. My partner and I were sitting at a bar that was fairly empty when we got there but became more crowded as we were going to leave. A gentleman was standing behind me for a while – I assumed he was waiting to order a drink.

The bartender asked him if he was going to sit and stay and he indicated he wanted to sit next to me (where I’d put my purse). I told him I wasn’t comfortable with that and it quickly devolved into rude comments, name calling, telling me I should stay home, etc etc. There were other open spaces for him to sit and I don’t think I was in the wrong for asking someone to respect my personal space. Just curious how others would or have navigated something like this in a COVID world. I’m torn between wanting some small slice of normalcy but also still trying to feel safe.”