Except for your tram table.
Finns do not like to be close to strangers (or even non-strangers), and never clump together when being physically apart is possible. However, sometimes they are forced into uncomfortable situations, such as can be found on a tram. The newer Artic trams have those awkward seats where passengers can sit two-to-a-side, face to face -- but this seating arrangement is to be shunned unless absolutely necessary, perhaps if the tram were packed full. And sometimes it is.
Yet, if avoiding close contact with others is the game, why is there a convenient tram table between seats? Certainly not to use as a tool for sharing drinks (drinking is not allowed on trams unless you really want to drink something) or sharing food (eating is not allowed on trams unless you really want to eat something). No social interaction is carried out on these tables that I have ever seen unless the four seats are filled with close friends who seem very happy to be together and boisterous at the thought of a night out...and these are probably tourists, anyway.
I think I finally realized why these tables exist: as a means to help preserve the privacy of strangers forced to face one another for a few brief moments. These tables are not meant to bring us closer together by encouraging some sort of spontaneous sharing. These tables are meant as a small physical reminder to supplement the ever-present mental distance we are encouraged to maintain.
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