________  ________  ________
   2019-10-27                                   /        \/        \/    /   \
                                               /       __/         /_       _/
   For as long as I can remember, I've hated  /        _/         /         /
being touched.  I  don't talk about  it much  \_______/_\___/____/\___/____/_
because when you  say  something  like  that    /        \/        \/    /   \
people's  natural  reaction is  to  try  and   /        _/         /_       _/
understand  why  and  usually  lean  towards  /-        /        _/         /
ideas of abuse or similar.                    \________/\________/\___/____/

   In my case it's nothing like that, I just hate  the way other people's skin
feels against mine, it's hard to explain but I imagine it's something akin  to
a  phobia,  like how some people can't  stand the sound  of  people eating  or
whatever.  Though I wouldn't really consider  it haphephobia because  it's not
really a  fear  and I  don't really react, I'd  just rather avoid  it wherever
possible.

   Anyway, the reason I bring all this up is a few months back I had a fall on
a tram in the city and it has kind of stuck with me.

   I was  commuting home from work on  a  tram and, as so often  happens, some
dick head darted out in front of it and the  driver had to slam on the  brakes
to avoid running the guy down.

   Inertia is a  thing so  when  the tram stops suddenly,  loose objects  like
people keep moving and I kept moving a good eight feet at least. I reached out
for one of the handrails  but missed  it by inches,  and landed on the ground,
tangled in my bag strap and headphones cord.

   Mercifully there wasn't many other people on the tram so I  didn't  collide
with anyone.

   In those  seconds of  confusion after hitting the  ground one of the  other
commuters  reached  down and put his  hands on me, reassuringly  firm but  not
intrusively so.  It  struck  me because there  was no hesitation, like  say if
someone was reassuring someone else's child. It's hard to describe.

   So  thank  you, stranger,  there was nothing in the world I needed  more in
that moment than a reassuring hand.



EOF