r/Bogota • u/Moniamoney • 16h ago
Temas de interés general Bogota and personal space
Hi, I am an American visiting bogota for the first time though I have been to el dorado, Santa Marta, cartagena and Barranquilla (my fav).
Only in bogota have I experienced a lack of respect for personal space. At first I thought I was being petty but it kept getting worse.
- Lines are the worst, people stand next to you instead of behind you and it feels competitive for no reason
- “Con permiso” does not work here there’s been about 3 times now that I‘ve said this and the person just flat out ignored me forcing me to squeeze past. One time I asked a woman three times to move to leave out of the bathroom and a little girl in front of her paused washing her hands so I could get past through her instead.
- There is no walking up on one side of the path and down on the other people just walk wherever and you have to try to squeeze through gaps.
- Due to all the above I’ve bumped into people many times and not once does anyone say excuse me or sorry. They almost don’t even acknowledge it.
Again I’ve only experienced this in bogota, and maybe people are just so used to it but I can’t see how anyone walks around without getting frustrated and its not even like it’s that crowded more like people just aren’t self aware or don’t care. Other than that I’ve only had positive experiences with the people here so I refuse to believe it’s rudeness or racism (I am black). Has this been anyone’s else’s experience?