# In what ways are you nosy? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [April 20, 2016, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-what-ways-are-you-nosy/752745 "2016-04-20T18:27:36Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2016, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-what-ways-are-you-nosy/752745/21 "2016-04-23T18:38:31Z")
> [@Green\_Bean](#): > > I’m nosy about people’s ethnic backgrounds. I don’t know why. I just find it interesting. > > Fun fact I learned yesterday: Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson’s father was a “Black Nova Scotian.” > [Black Nova Scotians - Wikipedia](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Nova_Scotians) > I didn’t even know they existed! I didn’t know that either, but since black slaves fled from Dixie up to Canada for decades, it seems logical there’d be many communities of former slaves and their descendants in many parts of Canada. ---
**Author:** ![carlotta](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/898d66/32.png) [@carlotta](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carlotta)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2016, 9:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-what-ways-are-you-nosy/752745/22 "2016-04-23T21:41:11Z")
I am very curious about why people got divorced. I have learned that if I lower my voice and say “don’t tell me if it seems too nosy, but why did you split up?’ they will tell me. Actually if I lower my voice and say"don’t tell me if it seems too nosy” about almost anything they will tell me… I am also curious about what health and romantic problems they obliquely reference and what their close relatives died of. ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2016, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-what-ways-are-you-nosy/752745/23 "2016-04-24T18:42:22Z")
> [@astorian](#): > > I didn’t know that either, but since black slaves fled from Dixie up to Canada for decades, it seems logical there’d be many communities of former slaves and their descendants in many parts of Canada. Like the Acadians in Canada and in Louisiana (Cajun). ---
**Author:** ![FairyChatMom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fairychatmom/32/22080_2.png) [@FairyChatMom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FairyChatMom)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2016, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-what-ways-are-you-nosy/752745/24 "2016-04-24T19:42:54Z")
I don’t know if this counts as nosy since I’d never do anything to satisfy my curiosity, but when we’re driving late at night or early in the morning when it’s still dark and I see a light or two on in a house that we pass, I wonder about what’s going on. I know it’s probably just ordinary people living ordinary lives, but I wonder what “ordinary” is for them. Pretty pathetic, huh? ---
**Author:** ![The\_Stainless\_Steel\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_stainless_steel_rat/32/5727_2.png) [@The\_Stainless\_Steel\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Stainless_Steel_Rat)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2016, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-what-ways-are-you-nosy/752745/25 "2016-04-24T20:14:09Z")
I work in a large office with several shared copiers and if I’m getting something that has printed out, I can’t help but look/read some of the stuff other people have printed out. Got in trouble with my brother for doing that…but if he didn’t want me to read it, he shouldn’t leave it lying next to the computer he had me using! ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2016, 9:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-what-ways-are-you-nosy/752745/26 "2016-04-24T21:29:28Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > I honestly can’t think of anything. Others’ business is their own and I expect other people to respect my privacy. Me, too. I find it especially unsettling that there are people who like to look in other people’s windows as they walk by. A good excuse to draw my blinds and call the sheriff’s department. ---
**Author:** ![Shoeless](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shoeless/32/7099_2.png) [@Shoeless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shoeless)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2016, 1:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-what-ways-are-you-nosy/752745/27 "2016-04-29T13:26:34Z")
I thought about this thread this morning as I was walking to my desk at work. Walking past a coworker’s cubicle, I noticed a handwritten note on a full size sheet of paper that someone had laid across his keyboard so he would be sure to see it when he came in. I couldn’t read it as I was walking past, and I _sooo_ wanted to duck into his cube and see what it said, even though it’s none of my business. ---
**Author:** ![pullin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c57346/32.png) [@pullin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pullin)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2016, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-what-ways-are-you-nosy/752745/28 "2016-04-30T16:48:47Z")
> [@teela\_brown](#): > > I get the addresses of my co-workers from our employee directory, and then I go look at their houses on Google street view. I like to see other people’s homes. We’re shopping for a (used) boat this spring. Before meeting the owner at the marina, I find out his address\* and look over his house at least via street view, and will drive past if I have the time. I also try to engineer some excuse to go inside his house before making an offer. Why am I this nosy? IMO, you can’t really tell how diligent he was with regular upkeep by looking at the engines and stuff on the boat. I can learn much more about his maintenance habits by seeing his house and environs. If stuff is falling behind at home, you can be certain the boat was neglected. \*In Texas, if you have the registration numbers from the boat, you can fill out a form at the Parks/Wildlife dept and they’ll give you the names of the vessel owner(s) and any liens against it. I can usually find the reg numbers somewhere in the online pics. Very few people mask them. So far I’ve encountered two boats being “sold” by someone who was not on the title. As they say here, “This ain’t my first rodeo”. ---
**Author:** ![Channing\_Idaho\_Banks](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/channing_idaho_banks/32/250_2.png) [@Channing\_Idaho\_Banks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Channing_Idaho_Banks)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2016, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-what-ways-are-you-nosy/752745/29 "2016-04-30T17:27:50Z")
> [@cochrane](#): > > Me, too. I find it especially unsettling that there are people who like to look in other people’s windows as they walk by. A good excuse to draw my blinds and call the sheriff’s department. Are you kidding? Leaving the blinds open is an invitation to look inside. Why do you think window shopping is so popular? I can’t wait to hear what the sheriff has to say about this one! You may think you have a right to privacy, but the reality is you have virtually zero expectation of privacy without making some kind of effort to secure it. The only real good exception is the workplace restroom. The Supreme Court determined that it is illegal for businesses to place cameras in the workplace restroom no matter what it is they suspect you of doing. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-what-ways-are-you-nosy/752745.md?page=1)