I don't like people in the kitchen while I'm cooking. I especially don't like it when they just stand at the kitchen counter reading a newspaper or something. Or worse yet is when they talk to me because it makes me forget what I'm doing. Of course, most times the things they say to me are things I don't want to hear such as negative stuff. I like to be alone to think while cooking. The presence of other people completely disrupts my thoughts.
Also, during my holiday cooking, it's almost like I'm doing a dance. If someone gets in the way, the whole routine gets thrown off and I end up spending more time cooking than necessary. Like when I'm baking cookies, one batch comes out of the oven, a second goes in. The first batch rests for a minute, then gets moved to a cooling rack, then frosted. Then I remove any remaining crumbs from the cookie sheet, put it aside to cool, then work on getting the next batch ready. Then I repeat the whole process several more times. Everything is timed so that I'm always doing something - there's no time to rest, which reduces the amount of time I spend slaving away. If one person gets in my way, it's enough to throw off everything so I'm running behind. That happened a couple years ago when my father kept walking through the kitchen looking for his misplaced tools.
I was just asking about this because I'm tired of people in the kitchen while I'm cooking. I'm considering saying something to the offending people but I figure they'll get mad. But when they're doing something that requires concentration or when they just want to be alone, I don't bother them so they shouldn't bother me. My mother told me that I'm being silly for feeling this way, which is why I wanted to see how others felt. But then I'm one of those people who prefer to be by myself anyway. If I want your company I'll tell you, otherwise, bug off.