General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: We must define acceptable and nonacceptable touching [View all]hunter
(38,349 posts)I'm also terrible at judging people's body language. I often don't know if someone loves me or hates me until they kiss me or punch me in the face. I've got plenty of scars, physical and emotional, to show for that.
I was severely bullied in middle and high school and at one time had a hair-trigger berserker response to anyone who touched me the wrong way. Unfortunately the bullies were always bigger than me and tended to beat me bloody, or worse, laugh at the ineffectiveness of my "fight" response. Eventually, I learned to be invisible, and when that failed, to throw up a distraction and run like hell.
"Don't touch anyone without their explicit consent" is a good rule, but it's not the way most of our society works, starting with handshakes, which I also hate. Both my grandfathers schooled me repeatedly on how to do a proper handshake, starting when I was about three. Direct eye contact also sucks, so I was doubly uncomfortable with handshakes.
I'm not going to discuss Biden, Sanders, or any of the old guys. Sure I'll vote for them if they win the primaries, but I'd prefer someone younger and fiercer as President, someone like Obama when he first ran, even though I voted for Hillary Clinton in the primaries. (Hey, if we don't grow and change, we're dead...)