Human Intercourse

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
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I love to people watch. Not only the silent interactions as people negotiate around a cash register, small dining tables or crowded hallways but the more intriguing dance that occurs when there’s a spark.

Being a big fan of The Spark, it’s always neat to witness it between two strangers neither of whom is myself.

I’m in Chicago/O’Hare, having flown from NY to LAX. Gawd. Nothing more fun that watching people, hearing snatches of conversations and bits of life.

Okay, well, having conversation with someone is better but peoplewatching is much more engaging than reading my book.

Airports? Top choice. Second choice? Central Park.

A small part of it of course is that curiosity…who in the room might be a Doper and I wouldn’t even KNOW it?? We should start wearing small lapel pins. Like the Secret Service. Or the Freemasons. :smiley:

Cartooniverse

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You know. The Spark. When you’re in line at the movies or walking through a gallery or sitting at a lecture and the person nearby catches your eye, your energy and in a single glance there’s that Spark that you could recall thirty years later?

That spark. Not nearly always a carnal thing, instead it is an ethereal moment of silent connectivity that predates “connectivity” by thousands of years.

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[Ralph Wiggum voice] “Intercourse?”

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I’m calling the Pun Police. You have been warned :smiley:

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[QUOTE=Cartooniverse]
A small part of it of course is that curiosity…who in the room might be a Doper and I wouldn’t even KNOW it?? We should start wearing small lapel pins. Like the Secret Service. Or the Freemasons. :smiley:

[/QUOTE]

Absolutely. I think it should be a tiny lapel pin with this dude------> :dubious:

And perhaps the word Cite?

I’m still waiting for someone to make an Official Unofficial T-shirt like that…

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“Hearing snatches?”

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[QUOTE=lieu]
“Hearing snatches?”
[/QUOTE]
You know, like the famous band whose abbreviation is A.C., although in this case it stands for Aural.

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[QUOTE=lieu]
“Hearing snatches?”
[/QUOTE]

Some say if you put one up to your ear, you can hear the nagging.

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Heh… just so ya know, I saw this then moused-over and read the first 5 words as “I like to watch people”
wait…
Human Intercourse, and you like to watch?! Maybe a TMI tag on that one? :eek:

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Actually, it said " I like to people watch" which has quite a different connotation. :slight_smile:

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oh yeah I figured that out pretty fast, but at first glance (me and my gutter mind) I was like… uhhh… TMI?

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[QUOTE=Cartooniverse]
Actually, it said " I like to people watch" which has quite a different connotation. :slight_smile:
[/QUOTE]

Or as Chance the Gardner says…

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I enjoy people watching, too. The mall is a better choice for me than the airport. I like to try to figure out who in a given store “belong” to each other. You can usually tell by matching hairdo’s. And people are happier when they are shopping than when traveling. I’ve always found airports to be giant energy vortexes. Everyone is stressed out about getting to their gate, finding their baggage, going through security, etc.

Would love to spot “the spark”. Now I have a goal :wink:

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[QUOTE=Mindfield]
Some say if you put one up to your ear, you can hear the nagging.
[/QUOTE]
That’s f*cking funny! :slight_smile:

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[QUOTE=AHoosierMama]
I enjoy people watching, too. The mall is a better choice for me than the airport. I like to try to figure out who in a given store “belong” to each other. You can usually tell by matching hairdo’s. And people are happier when they are shopping than when traveling. I’ve always found airports to be giant energy vortexes. Everyone is stressed out about getting to their gate, finding their baggage, going through security, etc.

Would love to spot “the spark”. Now I have a goal :wink:
[/QUOTE]

I vastly prefer the happy moments to the drama of stress. Airports were better back in Ye Olden Dayes when you could meet your party at the gate instead of having to lurk in baggage claim. People getting off the airplane have the energy of relief about them, a great aeronautic exhalation, combined, if you’re lucky, with the anticipation of seeing a loved one and the ecstasy of the first hug after an extended absence. Those were the best ones for a people watcher. But now everyone gets tense and back into Travel Mode by the time they walk all the way to baggage claim, and the greetings are somewhat perfunctory and tired. Truly, the terrorists have won.

ETA: The best place to spot “the spark” is in the quad or cafeteria of a college in the spring. Sparking like a firework in the hands of an arsonist!

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[QUOTE=Sage Rat]
Or as Chance the Gardner says…
[/QUOTE]

" Oh God, Oh God, Chauuuuuuuuunceeeeeeey !!! "

I need to rent that movie.

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I have to go with Cartoon on this one, all puns aside people watching is fun. I used to go to the zoo and watch people. Most recently, I was at O’hare airport and was in line for security checks, while waiting actually struck up a conversation with the guy in line in front of me!

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I’ve always held firm to the fact that when people say, “I like this girl, but I don’t know if she likes me!!1111” It’s not that hard to tell, if you are a third party. If you go to places where people meet: bars, coffee shops, other random places, and observe this interaction, it is almost painfully obvious at times! I remember one time waiting in line at the bookstore coffee shop at college, I saw this chick, she really liked the guy she was talking to. I remember thinking, “wow that’s a nice thing, I wish I could see it like that when I’m talking to people.”

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[QUOTE=Cartooniverse]
You know. The Spark. When you’re in line at the movies or walking through a gallery or sitting at a lecture and the person nearby catches your eye, your energy and in a single glance there’s that Spark that you could recall thirty years later?

That spark. Not nearly always a carnal thing, instead it is an ethereal moment of silent connectivity that predates “connectivity” by thousands of years.
[/QUOTE]

So beautifully put, Cartooniverse. I’ve always put it as “connection”: in youth, I was bold and would go up to strangers and just say, “You have that spark, let’s talk” And it led to so many good connections and talks, now thinking, so cherished. That sort of unabashedness served well in travelling; so many wonderful experiences (not sexual at all) would have been lost without having them sparks, and the energy to trust people.

I don’t have those experiences so much now, and reflecting here, kinda sad. I’m 45, and glad to be there, age-wise, but, those Sparky moments don’t happen as much (Prolly cause I’m not a cute lil femme so much now), but, is it just not the energy of youth, or a refocusing of priorities that you don’t notice it as much for your ownself?

Kinda yammered here: but, I learned to people-watch from my grandmother, who, being old and wise, taught me how to watch other people, and really appreciate their interaction. She’d point out what caught her eye about certain people, and I kinda got it, but not as much as I do Now. Now that I get that wisdom of observing and having depth of knowledge about life, and feeling happy to see other’s connections, know what she meant.

Thanks, Grandma Ruth, for at least opening my mind to see others as lovely and interesting.

And, thanks, Cartooniverse, for helping me remembering that lesson with this thread: I was feeling rather mean and cranky today, and this helped me get back to a better state of mind.