The Lost Art of People Watching

I was listening to a talk show yesterday, and the topic of conversation was people watching. Many were calling in saying that because of the popularity of Smartphones, the art of people watching is dead. People are so busy walking around with their eyes down, thumbs punching out text messages and emails that no one really looks at anyone else these days. Being an experienced people watcher myself, as well as an amateur social scientist of sorts, I take exception to that premise.

People watching involves unobtrusively studying people, mostly strangers, and making up stories about who they are, where they are coming from, where they are going, what they are thinking, and yes, sometimes even making fun of them (not so they can hear, of course).

I was taught the fine art of people watching as a preteen by my stepmother, Carol. She’d take me, my teenage stepsister and infant half-sister to the White Front store in San Jose—similar to today’s Walmart, except there was a huge food court to the left as you enter the front door—and we’d sit, literally, for hours, nursing chocolate cokes and making up stories about the more interesting people we’d see. To qualify as "interesting," the person would have to stand out from the rest of the crowd in some way. Maybe it was the color or style of their clothing—were they stylish or completely clueless about fashion? Maybe it was an interesting hairstyle that drew our attention, their mannerisms or an unusual facial feature. Were they appropriately dressed for the weather that day? We’d make up stories about what they did for a living or invent some deep-dark secret they were hiding. We’d even try and spot "doppelgängers"—people who look like people we knew or well-known people like movie stars.

Today, the best places to people watch are cafes and coffee shops (my personal favorite place is the in Watsonville or this weekend at the ), libraries, bookstores, the beach, sitting on a park bench or waiting for the bus. Wherever you do it, the most important thing is not to look conspicuous. Make it appear that you're already occupied. Look busy by pretending to read, work on your laptop or text on your Smartphone (doh!). Just don’t just sit and stare. If outside, wear sunglassses so it’s hard to tell where you’re looking.

Like the line in the Simon & Garfunkel song, "America," that goes like this:

            "Laughing on the bus,
            Playing games with the faces
            She said the man in the gabardine suit was a spy
            I said "Be careful, his bowtie is really a camera."  

Real people watching is harder than it looks—and it’s more fun doing it with a friend—but there’s a fine line between perverted staring and the simple observation of pedestrians. You have to let go of your stalker tendencies and observe simply for personal enjoyment.