Quote Originally Posted by LeslieChow View Post
Dear Nicole.Com:

I reluctantly share this tip out of a fear of it losing its effectiveness...

Nevertheless, I am a giver...

I have discovered a 'weird little trick' for getting folks to respect your personal space.

It is a little bit cumbersome, however...

And tends to distract oneself from full enjoyment of one's surroundings...

Yet, for those times when you really just want to be left alone,

It works perfectly:

Simply pretend to be talking on your cell phone.

For some reason, perhaps out of an awareness that cell phone time is almost literally money, folks really back off when they see the hand to ear...

Having some imaginary conversation demanding the 'documents' from the imaginary other party doesn't hurt either...

While this is somewhat of a pain, it definitely works.

Take care and have fun!

L.C.
I have used this trick also. Another one I love is pretending not to speak English. This works well in NOLA. Lots of street beggars there and when you don't speak English they have always left me alone.