People-Watching. Who does it?

[Brittany]

So there is this little thing I've been doing for years now.  It's something me and friends used to do for hours and I've  never quite grown out of it, as well as having been a big influence on roleplaying for me.

When sitting on a bus, or in a bar, or at school or anything at all, when I see people, I just think about them.  Not in an adult R-rated sense either or "wow, he looks good".

More like, if two people are talking, but I cannot see what they are saying, i will wonder what they are talking about.  And kind of just make it up.  For instance the other night I saw two women talking and by the time they left, I had envisioned that one had just found out she was having a baby, and they were going to going shopping for baby strollers the next day.

My question really is, is this something everyone does?  Or am I just kind of weird?

[Morven]

I do it a lot; people fascinate me, and my authorly senses tingle.

I must admit to some of the "he or she is hot" kind of watching too, but it's not the main focus.

[Torch]

I think the easier question would be:

Who doesn't do it?

[Dizzi]

I love to watch people just to see the different cultures walk by.  Ever since I moved to the city it's been such an awesome culture shock (Yay for chickens giving out high-fives! ) but it's really cool.

But whats wierd is that out of the hundreds upon hundreds of people I see every day I've always wondered what makes certain people stand out.  Like, unassuming normal people.  randomly one or two, perfectly normal random people,I can remember thier faces and outfits.

[Beguile's Mistress]

I don't make a habit of watching people, or watching just for the sake of watch.  That seems intrusive to me.  I will watch someone who looks particularly interesting.  In another thread I posted an instance where I got a story idea by watching a group of six people at an amusement park.  They appeared to be Grandparents, parents and children and I made up a story about the group taking the children to the park where the grandparents had taken the younger woman, the mother, when she was a child and were the grandparents had gone themselves as children.

It's that kind of thing that makes people watching worthwhile.

[Talia]

Yes, I think we are all people watchers. I find it interesting, entertaining and fascinating. You can learn a lot about people, even through non verbal gestures as well.

[Jeramiahh]

I do this from an actor's perspective; I try to watch how people move and act, while not being observed, to help bring that to the stage. It's fun to try and guess someone's mood, thoughts and feelings, from how they move, how they carry themselves... even minor changes can make a huge difference, in how a character is perceived.

[DrFier]

I don't so much watch individuals, as much as people as a whole, if that makes sense. One of my favorite things to do is predict the next move of the people I observe, which is incredibly easy, but still entertaining for some reason.

[Leala Magnus]

I watch people everyday, I think its natural to observe the environment around you. You learn alot of things about people when you watch them and they think there's no one around. I too also wonder what they are talking about like the silent movies and see if I can figure out what is being said by watching their body language and their moods. I work in the public at a grocery store so I'm always looking at behaviors ie potienial shoplifters and people who are needing help but refuse to ask for it. I'm in college and I'm majoring in Art Education.... As an artist it's my nature to be very observant and people watching is interesting plain and simple!