One of my absolute favorite things to do is to people watch. It is a very fascinating thing to do. I could literally spend hours sitting in a food court or at a mall, just looking at people—watching their interactions, their mannerisms, their idiosyncrasies. People Watching is the ultimate experiment in sociology.
Everyone who has ever lived has a story-but what is it? What is this passerby's story? What about that one? Why are the dressed that way? Are they happy or sad? Are they married? Gay? Straight? What makes them tick? What is their name? How old? What kind of work do they do? It is, of course, difficult to answer these questions just by looking at the exterior. Furthermore, why does it even matter? In the grand scheme of things, it probably doesn't matter, but still, enquiring minds want to know.
Here's my confession: After an entire life of people watching, I still haven't mastered the "art". I've been told that I'm extremely obvious when I am watching. I haven't learned to delicately observe my "subjects". Rather, I stand there like a dog salivating over dinner. Admittedly, that is neither cool nor attractive. There have been times when I've been caught. Busted. Called on the carpet. For example, there was one incident at the gym several years back (which I've tried to retire to the deepest recesses of my memory without success) where I had been watching this guy for probably six months to a year. He was cute, who could possibly blame me? Anyway, he came up to me and asked me if we knew one another and why I had been staring at him. I apologized and pretended to know not that of which he spoke. Oops! That was extremely embarrassing. I suppose there is a fine line between people watching and ogling. But how does one strike a balance? I know I’m not alone in loving to people watch. I just wonder what is it we are hoping to find? Are we looking to discover something new about ourselves? Perhaps it’s a little bit of both.
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i fully admit to sharing your love of people watching. i, too, have been caught a few times, usually to my great embarassment. both times that i can think of, once in the cafeteria at college and a second at the gym, was with very attractive women. strangely, it was the tattoo each had that got me. i kept trying to figure out what the design was, only to get caught. the college girl saw me through the glass and burst out laughing, pointing me out to her friend. the gym girl then stared at me every time i saw her. oops.
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