When sharing a space with others, especially a public space with strangers, always be mindful of how much space you're taking up.
For example you're waiting for the bus, and there's one bench that's wide enough for 2-3 people to sit on at the bus stop. Why sit directly in the middle and leave bags sitting on either side of you, or sit off to one side with your legs propped up taking up the entire bench, when you could just as easily sit off to the side and leave room for others to sit too?
Say you're sitting in a classroom with isles just wide enough for one person to walk down. Why leave your bag (or other possessions) sitting in the middle of the isle, making it harder for other students to pass your desk, or creating a tripping hazard, when you could tuck it under your desk where it won't be creating a tripping hazard for anyone?
Or maybe you live in an apartment building that has a shared hallway instead of private entrances, and you have a bike that you don't feel like storing all the way down in building's bike storage room. Why leave your bike laying in the middle of the hallway, forcing your neighbors to have to maneuver or trip over it when coming and going, when you could try to find a better place to store your bike that isn't obstructing the shared hallway?
Not only can not being mindful of how much space we're taking up be dangerous, such as creating tripping hazards. But it just makes sharing spaces, whether private or public, easier with others when we leave space for others too. Nobody is more entitled to space than someone else. You don't own the sidewalk, or the bench at the bus stop, or the shared hallways in your apartment building anymore than anyone else does, and everyone else deserves the same access to it.
Of course if someone is accidentally taking up too much space, try to be patient the first time you bring it to their attention. Most people accidentally take up too much space at some point or another, and things like lack of sleep / brain fog / stressful situations etc. can affect how aware we are of our surroundings. Respect and consideration are two way streets.
#not to mention you’re making navigation harder for people who can’t see very well or in wheel chairs or need walkers
Bingo bango, keeping shared spaces decluttered instead of taking up more space than you need is important for keeping shared / public spaces accessible.
Same thing with the "not hogging public benches like at the bus stop", you never know who has an invisible disability and *really* needs to sit while you're hogging that bench.
I can't tell you how many times I've had to ask people to move their bags or scooters or bikes - bafflingly, oftentimes they're set down a bit aways from them, taking up much more space than they have to. Abled people can squeeze by just fine, but me and my power wheelchair cannot, they're hazards for blind people, they're obstacles for anyone with mobility aides, the list goes on.
Speaking from my own personal experience, I grew up being hyper-aware and self conscious about how much space I take up and where and from who. I was constantly trying to make myself smaller and keep out of the way within my mobility scooter and then my power wheelchair. I had it drilled into me by every adult around me that I was a fire hazard if I didn't make sure I was out of the way enough, which is doubly stressful to be told when you live in a state known for its wildfires.
When I first learned about Judith Heumann in highschool, and how she legally fought (and won!) to be a teacher after being denied on the basis of being a power wheelchair user and thus a fire hazard, when I read the arguments against that idea? It was earth shattering. It was completely novel and radical to me. And from that point on I started to really notice how I am often not taking up an unreasonable amount of space, I'm taking up exactly as much as I need to, and that me needing that space does not make me annoying or bad or in the way. I had just as much of a right to be there as anyone else. That realization was groundbreaking!
All that to say, this is why it's important to respect the space of others around you. Sometimes certain people do need more space, and you have to be ready to adjust if you're taking more space than you have to. The people who leave their things in my path to my exit, or who box me in, are infinitely more of a fire hazard than I will ever be.
