I REFER not to cleanliness.
Cleanliness is next to godliness. But there can be no such thing as cleanliness. Hence that's a subject we can't discuss here.
Let me tell you what I'm talking about. Some of you may know Sheldon Cooper from American nerdy comedy The Big Bang Theory. He's obsessive, punctilious and addicted to routine. And he has his spot.
This is his seat in the room, and God – damn, how did he get back in here? – forbid that anyone else should sit there. It is, he says, "my spot".
Now, this always gets a laugh and is indeed comedic, but I've been surprised to find that this business of having a spot really does hold sway among you Earthlings.
It's something I discovered at exercise classes. I'd turn up for the first time at a long-established one and put my kit bag down at some spot around the room, where we all got changed. And then I'd find someone looking a bit miffed.
They weren't catastrophically annoyed, as Sheldon would be. But they were distinctly dischuffed. It took me ages to work out why. And then I realised: I'd taken their spot. Even though it was just a random space round one of the four walls, it was their space, from which they drew comfort.
Recently, starting a new yoga class, I worried that the same thing would happen. I switched the spot for my mat a few times during the first weeks, then fretted that I might have put somebody out. Then I thought: to hell with it. Because that's the kind of fellow I am.
You may have experienced something similar visiting friends, after inadvertently sitting in father's seat or some such. This territorial atavism always makes me laugh. Until someone takes my spot.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article