Pet Peeve

One of the social gaffes that particularly gets under my skin is when someone insinuates him/herself into a situation (conversation, meal, outing, moment) where they have not been invited, and interrupts the flow between the preexisting parties. In some cases, simply asking if the other people would mind being joined would gain the outsider very ready access. In other cases, it would give the other parties the opportunity to say that they are discussing something of a sensitive nature, or are talking about something specific, and regret that they need to resume without the addition of the new person. It would all be so civil.

I was eating lunch with a friend (who also happens to be a coworker) in the cafeteria on the 1st floor of our office building. We were just getting into the groove our our lunch-time chat when another coworker plops herself right down and starts talking. I mean her joining us cut me off mid-sentence! At first I thought she would go about her business after a minute or two, get her lunch, and hightail it back upstairs. Nooooooo. She sat down for the duration of our meal and reoriented the conversation entirely.

In the scheme of things, it was not the worst or rudest thing someone has ever done to me, but as someone who holds propriety in high esteem, it chafed and rankled my sensibilities.