People Watching

[unregistered]

 

[3113]

An exercise we used to be tasked with in college was people watching: going into a public place and very discreetly watching those around us. Making notes of what they say, their mannerisms, that sort of thing. Does anyone ever do this?

I have done it, but lately the exercise has changed. I only hear one side of a conversation--and so does everyone else as the person is usually on the phone! And talking waaaay too loudly, and telling me things I didn't need to know about their endometriosis or how the golf game went Amazing how cellphones have changed the art of listening in on conversations, isn't it?

 

[voluptuary_manque]

I have done it, but lately the exercise has changed. I only hear one side of a conversation--and so does everyone else as the person is usually on the phone! And talking waaaay too loudly, and telling me things I didn't need to know about their endometriosis or how the golf game went Amazing how cellphones have changed the art of listening in on conversations, isn't it?

It's enough to make an old bear want to turn off his hearing aids!

 

[lisa123414]

I must have gone to a different college. You were tasked to espy?

We did not have this class in engineering, perhaps it explains a few things?

 

[where]

An exercise we used to be tasked with in college was people watching: going into a public place and very discreetly watching those around us. Making notes of what they say, their mannerisms, that sort of thing. Does anyone ever do this?

I haven't in years but I'm killing time at Caribou Coffee again and I find myself presented with a classic case study in trying to hard. The poor guy is pretty much the only contributor to the conversation. I just want to scream "Great, you're asking her questions, you're seeking to make her the topic.... NOW SHUT UP AND LET HER TALK!"

I set students the task of doing this as part of their study of participatory observation. I find I spend my own free time in public doing it as a matter of course as well. I do sometimes have some qualms about it in terms of invasion of privacy, but I need to keep in practice for my profession and I'm not generally using it anyway.

 

[unregistered]

 

[Edward Teach]

I must have gone to a different college. You were tasked to espy?

We did not have this class in engineering, perhaps it explains a few things?

You think I'm ogling and stalking you, but I'm not. I'm doing a study.

 

[voluptuary_manque]

You think I'm ogling and stalking you, but I'm not. I'm doing a study.

Right! My professor made me do it.

 

[lisa123414]

I set students the task of doing this as part of their study of participatory observation. I find I spend my own free time in public doing it as a matter of course as well. I do sometimes have some qualms about it in terms of invasion of privacy, but I need to keep in practice for my profession and I'm not generally using it anyway.

Well you should have some qualms, it is an invasion of privacy! I certainly feel like Pollyanna, I mean maybe there were a few weird ones out there, but that eavesdropping was part of a curriculum, hmmm

 

[lisa123414]

You think I'm ogling and stalking you, but I'm not. I'm doing a study.

Study to your heart's content dear Pirate, as always you delight and tickle

 

[lisa123414]

Right! My professor made me do it.

you seem to be awfully quick, are you sure you are a bear? and I also wanted to mention, the Olympic mascot, i do not believe it is a bear, it is sasquach, yes?

 

[Huckleman2000]

I love to watch people - I'm an actor, so I often find myself studying the way people move and gesture, what their body language says, their style of speaking. I best like to watch people in bars and clubs, where people are there to be seen. People tell you anything in a bar.

 

[TxRad]

An exercise we used to be tasked with in college was people watching: going into a public place and very discreetly watching those around us. Making notes of what they say, their mannerisms, that sort of thing. Does anyone ever do this?

People watching is an old habit. Some, if not most of the places, read that as bars, I grew up in were rough. Keeping ones eyes and ears open, kept you healthy to say the least. It did become a habit but later in life it was a big source of entertainment. Now, it's a source of a lot of my characters.

 

[Huckleman2000]

People watching is an old habit. Some, if not most of the places, read that as bars, I grew up in were rough. Keeping ones eyes and ears open, kept you healthy to say the least. It did become a habit but later in life it was a big source of entertainment. Now, it's a source of a lot of my characters.

Yes, good point. You can tell when the testosterone starts to take over in a bar crowd. Good bartenders are adept at managing the "vibe" of a place, defusing situations, etc.

 

[where]

Well you should have some qualms, it is an invasion of privacy! I certainly feel like Pollyanna, I mean maybe there were a few weird ones out there, but that eavesdropping was part of a curriculum, hmmm

I justify it in terms of it's a public place so there is no expectation of privacy and I don't use any of my observations. For the students, they are doing it as a training exercise, nothing ever gets published or shared because they are still bound by confidentiality clauses.

 

[lisa123414]

I justify it in terms of it's a public place so there is no expectation of privacy and I don't use any of my observations. For the students, they are doing it as a training exercise, nothing ever gets published or shared because they are still bound by confidentiality clauses.

seriously Kybele, I dont mean to take you to task. I suppose it just disturbed me, to think of people who do not care about me, observing my actions - squick!

 

[TxRad]

Yes, good point. You can tell when the testosterone starts to take over in a bar crowd. Good bartenders are adept at managing the "vibe" of a place, defusing situations, etc.

Over the years I became a damned good bouncer. Stopping the fight before it ever starts is the best of both worlds.

 

[voluptuary_manque]

you seem to be awfully quick, are you sure you are a bear? and I also wanted to mention, the Olympic mascot, i do not believe it is a bear, it is sasquach, yes?

That cousin Olaf, always putting on clown feet and fooling around!

 

[where]

seriously Kybele, I dont mean to take you to task. I suppose it just disturbed me, to think of people who do not care about me, observing my actions - squick!

hahaha! well I live in a surveillance society. I guess I'm used to being observed

 

[Zeb_Carter]

Over the years I became a damned good bouncer. Stopping the fight before it ever starts is the best of both worlds.

And I always dealt with the problem if the bouncer's didn't do a good job. Of course we had a K-9 unit as back-up. One bark of the dog and people tended to freeze in place in a bar fight.