Theres a sign near the elevators on every floor of my apartment building imploring residents and food delivery couriers to keep 1.5 metres apart in the elevators. Once in the elevator, the note tells us not be embarrassed to face the corners to avoid exhaling onto others.

My first thought when I read it? Cute but why not just wait for the next elevator? (Apparently, Im not the only one who feels that way. Theres an ongoing debate on my apartments community Facebook page about how to proceed with an elevator that already has an occupant. Im not involved, but let me tell you, its getting heated.)

Theres bound to be more disagreements along these lines as we venture further into our brave new post-coronavirus world. When it comes to social distancing, we all have different interpretations of the rules.

Given the newness of this situation, thats completely understandable, said Jodi RR Smith, an etiquette expert and author of From Clueless to Class Act: Manners for the Modern Woman & Manners for the Modern Man.

Humans are, after all, creatures of habit and few of us were in the habit of acting like there was a six-feet protective force field around us prior to this.

There is a learning curve to incorporate social distancing into our daily routines. We are still in this learning curve, she said. Human beings are notoriously bad at dealing with unknowns and this often leads to risky behavior. Right now, there is just so much we do not know about the virus, how it spreads and how to best treat it.

To help us get a little farther along on that learning curve, we asked Smith and other etiquette experts to weigh in on some of the more common distance-requiring scenarios weve experienced lately. Heres what they had to say.

What do you do if you go to get in an elevator but see someone else is already in it?

Obviously, if youre feeling sick but have to be in the elevator for whatever reason, warn anyone who is about to board of your condition so they can wait for the next one, said Thomas P. Farley, a New York-based etiquette expert and the host of the podcast What Manners Most.

If youre about to hop on and see someone else in the elevator, feel free to wait for the next one. That said, if youre already on, you may have to lower your expectations for others boarding.

Are you going to exit the elevator on whatever floor! anytime someone else gets in? Farley said. Someone who lives in a multi-story building cannot realistically expect others to do the same as they do.

Avoid crowded elevators as much as possible and hey, if youre physically able, consider taking the stairs.

Its not a bad idea since so many of us are missing our gym workouts these days! Farley said.