This morning when I walked into the PhD room there was a stranger sitting in the corner with a hood drawn over his head. He looked younger than your average PhD student but his demeanour didn't suggest that he was amiable to conversation so I let him be. I did find his presence distracting, though. When one of my colleagues walked in, he asked him whether he was a new PhD student. It emerged that he was actually a Master's student from a different faculty. My colleague didn't say anything but I felt quite irritated. I am quite territorial when it comes to personal space. I would love to have an office of my own, but failing that, at least an office where strangers can't just waltz in and plonk themselves down at the nearest terminal. So, after about 20 minutes I got up to tell him that I need to use his computer and that the room was only meant for PhD students. He said he was leaving in one hour but I lied to him that I needed the computer soon. He left without protest.
After he had left, one of my other colleagues asked me what the problem was as there were free terminals in the room. My colleague (the one who had approached the interloper first) said he was worried about the safety of his belongings, and the conversation turned towards that topic.
I had no concerns about the safety of my belongings. For me that, it was mostly about privacy. I don't take kindly to people encroaching on my personal space. I don't consider PhD students as superior to master's students or undergrads and I wasn't offended by the interloper's presumption. But I do believe that we deserve a space of our own to work without distractions. Otherwise, we might just as well work in the library.
My colleagues looked at me with quizzical looks when I told them my problem with the interloper. I wasn't surprised. Most people don't understand. For years, I have chastised myself for being so prickly about my personal space, to no avail. The rest of my family is quite different. Our house in India is open to all manner of young political activists working with my parents. More often than not, I find their presence a nuisance.
I don't care much for private property (although I don't like being taken for granted) but I do care for personal space. I attempt no ideological justification for feeling this way, because you can't justify feelings. Political debates would be much less rancorous if people realized that their political positions were the result of rationalizing how they felt rather than the outcome of clear-headed rational analysis. This is not a defense of illogical or crazy positions but a questioning of the idea that rationality can overpower feelings. How you feel about something can change but that change is rarely the result of rational analysis.
So, I have come to accept that my personal space is my fort. It is neither right, nor wrong, but just one of my many quirks.
After he had left, one of my other colleagues asked me what the problem was as there were free terminals in the room. My colleague (the one who had approached the interloper first) said he was worried about the safety of his belongings, and the conversation turned towards that topic.
I had no concerns about the safety of my belongings. For me that, it was mostly about privacy. I don't take kindly to people encroaching on my personal space. I don't consider PhD students as superior to master's students or undergrads and I wasn't offended by the interloper's presumption. But I do believe that we deserve a space of our own to work without distractions. Otherwise, we might just as well work in the library.
My colleagues looked at me with quizzical looks when I told them my problem with the interloper. I wasn't surprised. Most people don't understand. For years, I have chastised myself for being so prickly about my personal space, to no avail. The rest of my family is quite different. Our house in India is open to all manner of young political activists working with my parents. More often than not, I find their presence a nuisance.
I don't care much for private property (although I don't like being taken for granted) but I do care for personal space. I attempt no ideological justification for feeling this way, because you can't justify feelings. Political debates would be much less rancorous if people realized that their political positions were the result of rationalizing how they felt rather than the outcome of clear-headed rational analysis. This is not a defense of illogical or crazy positions but a questioning of the idea that rationality can overpower feelings. How you feel about something can change but that change is rarely the result of rational analysis.
So, I have come to accept that my personal space is my fort. It is neither right, nor wrong, but just one of my many quirks.
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