I don't mind sharing bus seats with people, but sometimes I get a quite irritated (and feel a bit violated) when these people decide to squeeze me in against the window. As such I have devised some tactics to get such people to give me a little more space. And being in this country, I have found that people generally do not like speaking to strangers, especially on public transport, maybe because doing so might bring all the eyes on the bus onto them.
By using these tactics, you are assuming that the other person is pretending to be ignorant of the fact that you are being squeezed in, and thus your response will be a similar false ignorance of their discomfort that you will soon create. Do remember that to use these, you need to be sitting on the inner seat. I make no guarantee that these will work, though I am pretty sure they will.
The Elbow Flail
To do the elbow flail, you need to be in the possession of a bag. Using the arm that is closer to your space encroacher, pretend that one of the zippers on the bag is stuck and begin to tug at it from a few different angles, one at a time. Because the space is tight your elbow will flail around at distances that feel very unsafe to the other person. If you can't pretend your zip is stuck, then you can pretend to be frantically searching for your handphone or a pack of tissue somewhere within the deep recesses of your bag.
Controlled Airflow Coughing
I don't really like this tactic as it may actually spread germs to the person, but it is a tactic, so I'll put it here anyway. Do remember that your objective is to make them let up and stop squeezing you, not to get them sick. But that's beside the point. Using the hand on the arm which is closer to the window that you are being pressed against, position the hand as if you were about to whisper a secret. From whisper position, point the fingers on the hand towards the air in front of the encroacher, if you like, you may turn your head ever so slightly away from the encroacher, and release a deep chesty cough, with one or two throat-clearing aftercoughs.
The Deep Elbow Divider
This should only be used when things get very uncomfortable. I have only used this once when some strange foreign looking person decided that it would be fun to press her thigh and hip against mine. Bad experience. First, fold your arms without tucking in your hands so that the folded arms do not lock into place. This will help to create a little pocket of space. From there, let your wrists fall onto your lap, well sort of. What happens is that the arm motions may be jammed by the environment, namely the encroacher, and the plastic frame that you are being pressed against. From the jammed position, push your elbow closer to the encroacher downward and outward so as not to make it obvious. Elbows are supposed to be the hardest points of the human body, and even if they aren't they are harder than your encroacher's waist.
If all this fails, you could always get up and move somewhere else or maube even ask for some space.
