Friday, August 12, 2011

No need to bond over Angry Birds

I usually spend my BART ride going through my twitter feed but whenever we're in no Internet zones, I get bored and sometimes whip out Angry Birds. I'm not obsessed with it but I do expect myself to pass at least one level at each sitting, but lately, in the more advanced rounds, I haven't been able to do so.

Anyhow, I was playing Angry Birds and struggling with a level. I knew the man next to me was looking, I could feel his breathing and unfortunately got a few whiffs of his breath. Coffee + cigarette make a bad breath combo. I ignored his staring. I tried to angle my phone so he can't see.

Then, one more failed attempt at the same level, he says, "What you need to do is hit higher first and get those blocks to roll down and hit in both directions, here let me show you." He reaches for my phone.

I did NOT want him to talk to me about Angry Birds in the middle of a crowded train and even worse, I did NOT need him to touch my phone and demonstrate it for me.

I politely said, as I moved my phone into my purse, "Oh it's OK, I'm just wasting time, I should be reading up on work stuff." I pulled out an old copy of PR Week and pretended to be engrossed thereafter.

Was I out of line??? Did I need to socialize over Angry Birds there? I am not that social on BART, I could be in the right situations, but I really did not need to make a big deal out of a game in public, and have him put his fingers all over my screen.

4 comments:

Meghan L. said...

Fingers on the screen AND grabbing your phone?? A definite no-no. I would react the same way! It's too bad he didn't get your subtle hints that you weren't interested in interacting with him...the only time all day that you had the luxury of time to waste. #BARTpassengerfail

carol t said...

this warrants a "oh no you did't"

zipcecetay said...

Creepy! You were NOT out of line; in fact you were pleasant, considering the circumstances. Touching without permission is totally unacceptable.

Anonymous said...

@Anonymous: Proof yet again that posting anonymously seems to give people "permission" to be rude and say things they otherwise wouldn't. ... Oh, wait, who's talking?!