What Are You Oddly Protective of?

I realized a few days ago that I’m oddly protective of a piece of furniture. It’s not the furniture itself, really–it’s more about what it represents.

On Saturday I hosted a game day for a number of people who were coming in from out of town to attend an annual game design event I run. 20 people in a condo that snugly seats 16 may have been a bad idea, but it actually worked out just fine.

A few days before the event, I e-mailed the 20 attendees (just those attending my game day, not all 95 attending Design Day) and gave them directions, a few notes about food/drinks, an allergy warning about my cats, etc. I almost sent the e-mail, but then I realized I wanted to add one more instruction. Something I’ve never fully realized before.

I really don’t like it when guests put stuff on my desk.

I’ve mentioned this a few times to the folks who attend my weekly game day. For a while I thought the annoyance came from people who put drinks on my desk–perhaps an innate fear that they’d spill on my computer. But I’ve noticed that I’m just as annoyed when someone puts their phone there, or their keys, or a game.

I finally figured it out.

Think about your desk at work. Picture it in your mind. It’s exactly how you want it to be, right? It’s your space. Depending on your office, it may be your only space.

Now imagine that someone puts their stuff on your desk. How does that feel?

The key difference here is that your desk is probably at your office, while mine is at home in the same room where we play games. So to everyone else, it appears like every other flat surface in the room: It’s a place to put stuff.

So when I wrote to the game day attendees, I included a mention of the sacred space of the desk. And they listened. The desk went intrusion-free for the entire day.

It’s a little weird, I know. But it’s one of those things where I’m glad I realized it and said something or it would continue to bother me.

What are you oddly protective of?

8 thoughts on “What Are You Oddly Protective of?”

  1. The one area/furniture piece of my apartment that I have an odd sense of protection over is my game table. It’s little things like seeing someone set a mug of tea on the wood that have me cringe and wanting to rush behind with a coaster, or using it as a dumping ground for anything and everything that raises my blood pressure. When it’s in gaming mode with the topper removed, seeing things like balled up candy wrappers sitting on the surface or when the cup holders are being used as a trash can makes me uneasy and wanting to immediately start tidying up.

    I’m pretty sure the sense of protection over this particular piece is because it’s the nicest piece of furniture I’ve ever owned, and the idea of something happening to it is unsettling. Most of the time, guests are very considerate of it without me needing to say or do anything, and my worrying is unnecessary.

    Reply
      • I don’t even own a fancy gaming table and I can relate to that! They look really neat and I would love to own one (if nothing else just so it would give me a reason to host game nights) but I am terrified of spending that much money just to have it stained/damaged by someone else.

        Katy: Does your sense of protection over your table vary depending on your guests? I imagine I’d feel more concerned for my gaming table with casual gamers (who may not realize how much those tables cost) than my weekly gaming group.

        Reply
        • The cringe usually happens when it’s just regular friends or even family putting things on it. When one of my nieces was an infant, my sister would bring the baby over and the sight of the car seat, diaper bag, and assorted other baby items would just drive me crazy (partly due to clutter and partly due to the worry that something would scrape up the surface). With the gamer friends I’ve had over, I haven’t really worried too much, even for a gamer who is just a casual gamer.

          Reply
  2. My car and the speakers in the living room. I’d rather nobody be near them or even look at them. God forbid someone were to put a glass on one of them….

    I’m very protective of all my stuff. Most people in general don’t take care for their own things and have even less consideration for the property of others. Nothing sucks more than getting everything nice, clean and orderly only to have it still look like crap because it’s been beaten up and abused by other people. Well, having to replace stuff that someone “accidentally” broke probably does.

    You can imagine how well living with a wife, a 10 yr old and a 3 yr old works for me.

    Reply
  3. Jamey,

    Probably, my games, even more than the furniture on which they reside, be they tables or shelving units. I know that you can always buy a new game if something happens to them…but, I would rather leave food on the kitchen table (or island) and games on the Gaming Table.

    Cheers,
    Joe

    Reply
    • I hear that, Joe! As a publisher, I’m pretty flexible about my games taking some damage, but I go out of my way to have places for players to put drinks so they’re not on the table.

      Reply

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