# White people and double-blinking **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [April 28, 2003, 7:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-people-and-double-blinking/171624 "2003-04-28T07:30:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![pizzabrat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/e9c0ed/32.png) [@pizzabrat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pizzabrat)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2003, 7:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-people-and-double-blinking/171624/1 "2003-04-28T07:30:03Z")
The other day I was talking to a white woman and I noticed something strange about her. One time when she blinked, she blinked once more immediately and rapidly after the first one, i.e., she “double-blinked”. I don’t think I’ve ever really seen anyone do this before. Is this a white thing? Does double-blinking have some sort of specific meaning in the white community? It didn’t seem to be a reaction to something I said, as she did it while she was talking. How could I have missed this whole “double-blinking” phenomenon before? Dopers, clue me in a bit, will you? ---
**Author:** ![Ephemera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8baadc/32.png) [@Ephemera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ephemera)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2003, 7:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-people-and-double-blinking/171624/2 "2003-04-28T07:37:00Z")
I’m white and I do it but I doubt very seriously that it’s a white thing and it definitely doesn’t have any sort of meaning in the “white community”. ---
**Author:** ![Aankh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ebca7d/32.png) [@Aankh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aankh)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2003, 7:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-people-and-double-blinking/171624/3 "2003-04-28T07:52:49Z")
ever heard of dust getting into a person’s eye? 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Pythagras](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/45deac/32.png) [@Pythagras](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pythagras)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2003, 7:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-people-and-double-blinking/171624/4 "2003-04-28T07:54:42Z")
Maybe its a white thing, maybe not. I’ve always attributed double blinking to shock – sort of like “maybe if I blink again, it will clear up my vision.” ---
**Author:** ![Joe\_Random](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e8c25b/32.png) [@Joe\_Random](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joe_Random)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2003, 8:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-people-and-double-blinking/171624/5 "2003-04-28T08:14:56Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by pizzabrat \* > **Is this a white thing? Does double-blinking have some sort of specific meaning in the white community?** “White community”? I’m white, and as far as I’m aware, there _is_ no “white” community. In fact, that’s the first time I’ve ever heard anyone even use that phrase. ---
**Author:** ![Murcielago](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/da6949/32.png) [@Murcielago](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Murcielago)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2003, 10:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-people-and-double-blinking/171624/6 "2003-04-28T10:22:02Z")
I have seen a few of your threads, **pizzabrat** , you have an odd style of indulging your own stereotypes while decrying others. ---
**Author:** ![Drastic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Drastic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Drastic)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2003, 10:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-people-and-double-blinking/171624/7 "2003-04-28T10:36:01Z")
The doubleblink is the equivalent of a doubleclick on a mousebutton. White people have computer chips implanted in our brains, for the past few years–this is part of the dot-Man initiative. So she was probably just launching some internal program. Did she seem distracted at all? She might have fired up her Whitey Messenger, and was probably using it to chat with some other white folk. Usually, we try to avoid doubleblinking like that–we’re supposed to control-blink instead to launch things (you can tell a control-blink because we crook our fingers slightly in a telltale mudra and the blink lasts just slightly longer than a natural one) when around those outside our community. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2003, 11:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-people-and-double-blinking/171624/8 "2003-04-28T11:03:22Z")
Am I part of the white community? I never filled out any application forms… ---
**Author:** ![Daftbugger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9fc29f/32.png) [@Daftbugger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Daftbugger)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2003, 11:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-people-and-double-blinking/171624/9 "2003-04-28T11:06:41Z")
Prehaps they were wearing contact lens that didn’t fir properly. ---
**Author:** ![Coldfire](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a587f6/32.png) [@Coldfire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Coldfire)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2003, 11:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-people-and-double-blinking/171624/10 "2003-04-28T11:07:07Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Joe Random \* > \*\*“White community”? I’m white, and as far as I’m aware, there _is_ no “white” community. In fact, that’s the first time I’ve ever heard anyone even use that phrase. \*\* Well, it’s as useless a phrase as “the Black communïty” or “the Jewish community”. Like they all live in the same street, or something. Weird. **Murcielago** , the OP isn’t stereotyping. He noticed something, found it odd, and decided to ask. Nor hamr in that. There’s no need to go _looking_ for offense, you know. Having said that, curse **pizzabrat** for making me double-blink. I swear to God, I can’t stop doing it now. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![green\_bladder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/73ab20/32.png) [@green\_bladder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/green_bladder)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2003, 11:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-people-and-double-blinking/171624/11 "2003-04-28T11:19:07Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by pizzabrat \* > \*\*The other day I was talking to a white woman and I noticed something strange about her. One time when she blinked, she blinked once more immediately and rapidly after the first one, i.e., she “double-blinked”. I don’t think I’ve ever really seen anyone do this before. Is this a white thing? Does double-blinking have some sort of specific meaning in the white community? It didn’t seem to be a reaction to something I said, as she did it while she was talking. How could I have missed this whole “double-blinking” phenomenon before? Dopers, clue me in a bit, will you? \*\* Maybe she was tired? ---
**Author:** ![XJETGIRLX](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/9fc29f/32.png) [@XJETGIRLX](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/XJETGIRLX)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2003, 11:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-people-and-double-blinking/171624/12 "2003-04-28T11:25:17Z")
**pizzabrat** , I’m just curious what bit of evidence you were able to garner from the situation that would lead you to think that it was a race-specific act or function? So far as I can tell you’re taking the behavior of a single individual and extrapolating from that a racial characteristic. Why do you think that double-blinking is only a white thing instead of just a human thing? ---
**Author:** ![Lsura](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7993a0/32.png) [@Lsura](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lsura)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2003, 12:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-people-and-double-blinking/171624/13 "2003-04-28T12:25:16Z")
I do it a lot, but mainly because my new contacts don’t seem to be seated as well on my eyes as the old ones. So I have to blink again to adjust them just about every time I blink. ---
**Author:** ![FranticMad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c68b51/32.png) [@FranticMad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FranticMad)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2003, 12:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-people-and-double-blinking/171624/14 "2003-04-28T12:57:03Z")
The other day I was talking to a black woman and I noticed something strange about her. One time when she coughed, she coughed once more immediately and rapidly after the first one, i.e., she “double-coughed”. I don’t think I’ve ever really seen anyone do this before. Is this a black thing? Does double-coughing have some sort of specific meaning in the black community? It didn’t seem to be a reaction to something I said, as she did it while she was talking. How could I have missed this whole “double-coughing” phenomenon before? ---
**Author:** ![Philster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/13edae/32.png) [@Philster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Philster)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2003, 12:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-people-and-double-blinking/171624/15 "2003-04-28T12:57:06Z")
Maybe she couldn’t believe she was talking to a non-whitey. ---
**Author:** ![Coldfire](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a587f6/32.png) [@Coldfire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Coldfire)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2003, 1:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-people-and-double-blinking/171624/16 "2003-04-28T13:04:26Z")
Oh, come _on_. Yes, the OP made an uninformed assumption when he asked whether this was something that was “white”. Nevertheless, he asked, and we can help fight ignorance once more. Get over yourselves, already. ---
**Author:** ![shrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/7ab992/32.png) [@shrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/shrew)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2003, 1:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-people-and-double-blinking/171624/17 "2003-04-28T13:29:20Z")
I double-blink, and I certainly hope my black students take no offense. Generally, I double-blink because I have really thick eyelashes. People think I wear mascara, but I don’t. My eyelashes stick together, or sometimes get in my eyes, but um, there’s no racial motivation. ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2003, 1:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-people-and-double-blinking/171624/18 "2003-04-28T13:29:26Z")
She was into you, man. You shoulda asked her out. ---
**Author:** ![Maxxxie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f14d63/32.png) [@Maxxxie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maxxxie)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2003, 1:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-people-and-double-blinking/171624/19 "2003-04-28T13:40:50Z")
My aunt has done this in the past and it’s usually because of her contact lenses drying a little… … as for me, I blink funny (similar to how you’ve described) when I have petit mal epileptic seizures. It’s not a white thing… though the concept of white people having a secret blinking code did make me laugh so hard my sides hurt! Max ---
**Author:** ![Count\_Blucher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Count\_Blucher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Count_Blucher)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2003, 2:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-people-and-double-blinking/171624/20 "2003-04-28T14:16:09Z")
Well, I think **The Platters** said it best: They, asked me how I knew, My true love was true, I of course replied, something here inside, Can not be denied. They, said some day you’ll find, All who love are blind, When you heart’s on fire, you must realize, Smoke gets in your eyes. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-people-and-double-blinking/171624.md?page=2)