While decreasing the gap between myself and lung cancer, she stands 10 feet in front of me staring, and staring blatantly at me. I shuffle left; the eyes follow. A shuffle to the right; the eyes shuffle as well.
We have never met, and the only time I ever see her is in front of Manoogian Hall before my French class. She has never uttered a word in my direction, and I highly doubt she ever will.
For the entirety of this semester, we shall remain anonymous to one another by choice.
I smoke my cigarette while being watched. She may not have a nicotine addiction, but perhaps she finds mine intriguing. I don’t know. While she looks at me, my expression remains indifferent, but I smile a little on the inside.
Somewhat surprisingly, this type of situation happens to me quite frequently. Apparently, I am awkward and fun to watch, or much less likely, I am eye candy. However, I do not have a problem with this. Either being watched or watching, I enjoy being involved in the situation.
See, like many others, I adore people-watching. With this, I determine whom I hate and whom I love prior to ever being introduced to said individual. I find nothing wrong with this or wrong with me. It’s how I and (hopefully) others do.
I have a particular spot from which I obtain the maximum amount of pleasure from people-watching. I will not share where this is, considering it would obviously ruin the activity for me.
But, it sets me straight. I see many a folk from my perch and analyze each and every one of them. This should not be disturbing whatsoever, but some individuals find it so.
If you do not believe or participate in people-watching, I greatly urge you to do so. There is nothing else that remotely compares to it. Pick a spot and watch ... people. You will learn. You will not learn only about others, but about yourself (maybe).
If you disregard my advice, it’s no big deal; I will be watching.
