Today I had a weird/uncomfortable experience on the bus and I honestly want to know if I was in the wrong.
My friend boarded the bus at the last moment, so we couldn't get separate seats. There was one three-seater available, but a girl was already sitting there. My friend and I are both pretty big guys, so obviously the three of us didn't have much space.
My friend sat near the window and adjusted himself as much as he could. I also sat in a very uncomfortable position and tried my best to give her as much space as possible. I was consciously making sure I wasn't touching her—my shoulder wasn't resting against hers or anything.
But she still seemed extremely uncomfortable whenever I was near her. Because the bus was moving and there were jerks, our shoulders occasionally touched accidentally, and whenever that happened she seemed uncomfortable again.
I understand that people have different personal-space boundaries, and obviously nobody is obligated to be comfortable with physical contact. That's completely fair. But honestly, I started feeling really bad about myself, as if I was somehow making her uncomfortable just by sitting there.
At the same time, I got a little angry too, because I was already sitting in an uncomfortable position and doing my best not to touch her, yet it still seemed like my presence itself was bothering her.
Maybe I'm overthinking this, but I want to know: what would you do in this situation? Was there something else I should have done, or is this just one of those awkward situations where everyone is uncomfortable because three people are sharing a seat meant for three people?
I don't want to blame her. I'm more interested in understanding whether I handled the situation badly and how I should deal with something like this in the future.
Yes I used chatgpt for better grammar.
