Is it a townie thing? Or am I just anti-social?

Hmm. Londoner here born & bread. I'd not sit near you on the beach! But I'll chat to AMYONE on a bus. Stop generalising FFS

I'm a Londoner & would sit as far away from you as possible love x

Possibly because the thread is not about standing closer to each other in any sort of context where you might stand near people ( queue, talking in the street or on a lakeside beach etc)

@NeverDropYourMooncup That’s a very well observed analysis of city life.

Op, I have lived in huge US cities , mid sized towns and villages of around 1500 people. At no point would I ever have sat near you, on a bus, train, beach , unless perhaps I felt one of us was vulnerable in some way; nor would I ever choose to park my car near another if there were lots of spaces.

I am a friendly introvert. I am happy to engage with people, but very relaxed on my own. My experience is that city life facilitates the privacy and anonymity I prefer. But given the opportunity to relax on a beach, I would do it as far from others as possible. So, for me YABU.

It's not a townie thing.What a twattish thing to say.

Oh God, you'd be my worst nightmare 😂

Why would saying you're from preston area mean you live in a city?
There's loads of countryside around here!

I'm a Londoner born and bred

• sitting or parking near someone else when there's lots of space is simply bad manners imo
• I talk to strangers and will regularly ask people if they need help if they're looking gormless in the middle of the pavement. I had a chat with the woman sitting next to me on the bus yesterday
• I cope with living in a busy city because I LIVE here. I know my way around and I've got my own bolt hole called my home. I went up to M&S an hour ago and it was maaad as we are near a Heath and people were going for picnics etc. 5 minutes away, I'm sitting in peace in my garden

Take your clothes off, no one will come near you 🤣

I've had this. Came out of the supermarket to find some fucker parked right next to me with no other cars parked anywhere near. Almost empty of cars but yet this fucker parked so close I could not open my car door without hitting their car so had to get in the other side. What is it with some people.

Lived most of my life in a city and I wouldn’t do that. They’re just oddities with no concept of personal space.

Absolutely this.
It’s silly to assume they live in a city- A fair number of Londoners live between two houses anyway- one in the Shires, one in Town - weekends and holidays are spent in the rural one-
Ditto rural people have a pied a terre in London.

Thirded

Fucking appalling invasion of space. Some people are clueless. Bit like people who sit right behind you on an empty bus.

I hate this too OP, and it’s not necessarily people wanting to be sociable. Recently I’d dropped DS and friends at a football match one evening, and I had to wait for them to finish as it was too far to drive home and back again. Tesco was open but the cafe was closed, so I sat in my car. The car park is huge, only about 5 cars in the whole thing, so I parked in a far corner. A couple in a car drove and parked right next to me, literally in the next space, despite the fact that there must have been several hundred free spaces. They sat and ate some food and chatted to each other. No attempt to engage with me. I have no idea why they chose that space.

It's been established by research that urban dwellers stand closer to each other than rural ones even when there is space so I don't see why OP is having a hard time for mentioning where the people are from.

I think this is actually some weird human instinct.

Kind of like watching a kid loose control on a bike and they head straight towards the only tree around.

Your perception of what is rural is based on where you yourself live.
I can go into more detail if it's not clear.

This is a gross generalisation. I have lived in London most of my life and would never do that.

Very understandable!

I don't think it's about where you come from but how sociable you are. I think some people on holiday like to strike up conversations because they want recommendations for where to go/what to do etc. Or else if they spot similar aged kids they may hover near them in the hope the kids will play together. It annoys me a bit as my dog doesn't particular like strangers even though she looks cute.

I've noticed a similar behaviour with penguins, and they don't live in towns.

This sort of thing is a bloody nightmare, why people do this is beyond me. I think the only solution is to pick up and move further away yourselves.

snowlady4 · Yesterday 21:46
Maybe they hoped you'd have a conversation and your kids might play together”

Why would anyone ever assume that, particularly at an isolated spot?

Yes, I agree it's this. It's not town/country or north/south, it's an instinct that many people just have.

I certainly have it. I've realised that if I drive into a large but mostly empty car park, my first thought is to park close to (although not directly next to!) the cars that are there. I think it's something to do with that section having been proved as "safe", or at least intended to be parked on, whereas the large empty space... maybe there's some reason you're not meant to go there, and everyone else is aware of it, whatever it is, so you'd be unwise to go against that.

Same in cinemas, and probably campsites if I ever went to one.

I'm aware of this thought process and so go against it, and park in the empty bit. I think for many people though it goes on unnoticed under the surface, hence the situations described here.