I always find it interesting what people and particularly couples reveal when they are out in public together. Will it be the couple on the first date, the guy like an eager puppy, the girl with an air of indifference? Will it be young love, of the kind where the pair have only recently become physically intimate, still eagerly touching each other with barely contained lust. Will it be the old married couple, possibly happily or unhappily. Will it be the impatient man or women who makes it obvious that they feel their time is more important than everyone else.
People for the most part tend to reveal a lot more information than they are aware. Most of the time it doesn’t matter. It either goes unnoticed or it registers but is lost amongst the maelstrom of sensory overload that is the modern concrete jungle. So many people are lost in their own head, with their own thoughts and desires, that the non-verbal messages they receive barely register, if at all.
I was out and about at various times over the holiday weekend and had the chance to observe some behaviors that just made me shake my head. There but for the grace of the red pill, go I. Some behavior patterns are just too ubiquitous to easily miss.
I happened to be walking up on an older couple out with their granddaughter. The grandmother was a stout lady. As in her legs were solid and massive tree trunks from the ankles up. Her torso appeared to be a giant apple on a stick, well two sticks more like tree trunks, but you get the image. The husband was a skinny rail of a guy, with coke bottle glasses, hunched shoulders and graying hair. The granddaughter was a cute and precocious 5 or 6 year old who flitted around her grandparents like a frisky colt. As I came up behind the trio, the grandmother appeared to see me first. She let out a surprised exclamation and yelped at her husband to ‘watch out!’ He immediately started apologizing to her. Repeatedly. One apology was too much in my opinion. His supplicating behavior continued as I walked past. I could only shake my head.
Later I stopped by the grocery store to pick up a few items for grilling. I like the grocery store. This particular one has lots of attractive single ladies and quit a few MILFs to boot. Just one advantage of this particular store being located in an affluent suburb. I chatted up one attractive mother who was chasing her little girl before moving on. I notice a raven haired beauty wearing a purple velour Juicy sweat suit. Ah the height of grrl power slut fashion in my book. This gal was hitting all my attraction triggers. As I’m about to open her, her phone rings. I smile at her and continue moving past her towards my destination. On my return through the section she is in I observe that she is still on the phone. She has one arm crossed and tucked under her other elbow. She’s looking down and is slightly hunched. I suspect she’s not enjoying this conversation much. Sure enough as I come up on her she is saying into her phone, “What do I think? I think you’re trying to be a little too controlling and it’s creepy. No I don’t want to see you.” Kiss of death dude.
There was an art exercise that I used to do, sort of as a warm up. Using pencil, or conte crayon, the objective was to rapidly sketch the things you see. It didn’t matter what it was whether people, or motion, or anything that caught my eye, the idea was to draw it rapidly. We’re talking under a minute. The point was to try to capture a feeling, to be open to the motions and emotions around you. The exercise was a great way to get out of my internal dialog and be more aware of the things transpiring around me. I still think that’s a pretty good idea. It makes me more aware, not just of others, but of what I am also communicating.
