Choosing a seat in a public place involves careful consideration of personal space. We are very diffident about asking to share café tables; and on buses and trains we sit beside a stranger only when all other separate seats are occupied. When we do share seating with strangers we respect studiously the personal space of fellow occupiers – a careful bum’s width is left between neighbours on park benches. We rarely take a moment to connect. Photo: Quayside, Cambridge, April 2019