People Watching!!

I have no idea how individuals can be unhappy about reaching early for a movie, waiting for friends at a mall, stress about a delayed flight or have nothing to do on a lonely evening. They can always people watch.

People watching can be a habit, a hobby, cheap means of self-entertainment or effective means of self-improvement.

It’s fun to watch strangers. I was recently at the San Diego zoo over the busy July 4th weekend. I watched more people then animals. Its fun to notice looks, dresses, tattoos, interactions and reactions. The public display of affection of love birds, the stressed mothers pushing the strollers, the excitements of kids waiting in queue to buy ice creams, the struggle of the same kids to finish the ice cream before it melts, the parents pushing their kids to participate, the acrobats in the shows flashing an embarrassing smile when things go wrong, some people trying to scam into tedious queues and show anchors oozing confidence & comfort were all interesting observations.

Watching strangers is always fun and mostly at their cost.

It’s also fun to watch acquaintances like colleagues at workplace, at the customary store, your regular servers at coffees shop or restaurant. Their reactions have a flavor of familiarity and hence make a curious observation. You can have a manager who you respect, a peer at work who irritates by being irresponsible, team member you really want to mentor, an usual face to help you find the required groceries or someone who remembers your Thai food order every time you go for lunch. It’s fun to anticipate their actions and responses. Most of this observation is more comforting and less funny.

It's education to watch close family and friends. In fact, these are the people who make us. As babies we learn to talk by seeing our parents talk to us, our morality is based on our observation of their lives, our habits are built on theirs and our personality is designed based them. People watching friends help us built a personality like our family just in more relevant environment. They help us more to grow and understand life better. There is no teaching like observing someone you can respect, have unconditional faith and want to learn from.

People watching is really an instinct, we do it more often then we admit. And it helps is more then want to admit. So clean those eye glasses, find the perfect location in the coffee shop and watch life passively through people.