I hitchhiked across Canada a lifetime ago with my best friend, and somewhere in Alberta, we were picked up by a middle-aged man in a suit and tie and late-model car. Five minutes or so into the ride, he brought out a small handgun from between his legs and held it in the air, and said "Just so you know there won't be any trouble."
I was next to him in the front seat and my friend in back. He drove us for at least a half-hour, and murmured some bland observations about the road, which we answered with bland "Uh-huhs." I kept glancing at him during the trip, but his face betrayed nothing.
He let us out, smiled and said goodbye. We were ragged youths, but we didn't offer any trouble. I remain curious what he was thinking about before and after displaying the gun, and if he picked up hitchhikers to terrify them, or was just a careful driver.
Anywhere to do with transport, but especially airports. Where are people going or who are they waiting for, why, who are they visiting? Plus there’s the solo travellers, those frantically herding kids to gates, the people who will queue for ages just to be on the plane first. There’s stress and excitement and love and boredom everywhere.
I have always wondered why women in a hair salon feel absolutely free of all boundaries to talk about all kinds of intimate things with their hair stylist. I always think of the stylist as a Priest, (you know what church I once was a member) :) The conversations are usually loud due to the fact that hair blowers are going and women are moving about from station to station.
A treasure trove... I wonder if it's something about the trust that comes with letting someone touch your hair and the disconnect between the mirror and face-to-face eye contact?
i love to people watch at work... i'm a receptionist at an office in my university, and the most interesting characters pass through with ridiculous questions i often don't have an answer for. the conversations that ensue are usually frustrating BUT !silver lining! great writing fodder.
Oh wow you must have a lot of traffic passing through. I'd love to read something about the ridiculous questions you get asked.
I think any public-facing service can be the perfect peoplewatching situ (even/especially the awful customers). I have a lot of retail/receptionist/barkeeping observations...
On a walking trail, early in the morning, with other seniors. The conversations, hand gestures, lilts and laughter are priceless. The fancy hand-carved walking sticks, canes, and assortment of rolling walk and sit apparatus add to the mix.
Ohhh there must be such a difference between people-watching in a place where you have to be quiet vs one where you're allowed to be loud... That's such an interesting contrast.
(Also I used to work in a bookshop and my mum was a librarian and we had SO many crossover stories haha.)
One of my favorite place to watch and listen is the hair salon! There are all kinds of conversations going on there and usually hair stylists are chatty!
My favorite place is anywhere open where I can walk my dog; parks, nature centers, battlefields, places like that. You can't help but see how people interact with each other, how they treat their own dogs, how they interact with you without saying a word. Nothing creepy about this one. If you have a dog, you have to pay attention to avoid people who don't seem to like dogs or people with dogs who have no control over them. While you're at it, you might as well notice how they dress, are they walking like their feet hurt or like they are enjoying the walk, etc. The list just goes on and on about the things you can notice.
My husband and I fell in love because on our very first date 27 years ago, we disclosed this mutual, hidden habit of spying a couple at an event, or restaurant, and creating a story about them, their respective backgrounds, what was going on in their respective lives in that moment we were surreptitiously observing them, what they as a couple were trying to resolve. Sometimes it was two friends, youngsters hanging out, well-aged lovers, teens on prom night, of all races, etc. We weren't always in accord in our storytelling, but we naturally fell into a "yes, and ..." rhythm. I think this is how we got to know each other enough to eventually get married, each of us having been through a wickedly painful first marriage before we met, vowing never again.
this reminds me of the opening of the film past lives which happens to be about perceptive writerly types but in the opening scene the people watching gets turned onto them
The very best part of the formal-event suggestion (I loathe them too): it gives us license to sit in a corner by ourselves, and when someone asks why we're not talking/dancing/schmoozing/etc., we can say, "I'm writing."
I hitchhiked across Canada a lifetime ago with my best friend, and somewhere in Alberta, we were picked up by a middle-aged man in a suit and tie and late-model car. Five minutes or so into the ride, he brought out a small handgun from between his legs and held it in the air, and said "Just so you know there won't be any trouble."
I was next to him in the front seat and my friend in back. He drove us for at least a half-hour, and murmured some bland observations about the road, which we answered with bland "Uh-huhs." I kept glancing at him during the trip, but his face betrayed nothing.
He let us out, smiled and said goodbye. We were ragged youths, but we didn't offer any trouble. I remain curious what he was thinking about before and after displaying the gun, and if he picked up hitchhikers to terrify them, or was just a careful driver.
Holy CRAP
Anywhere to do with transport, but especially airports. Where are people going or who are they waiting for, why, who are they visiting? Plus there’s the solo travellers, those frantically herding kids to gates, the people who will queue for ages just to be on the plane first. There’s stress and excitement and love and boredom everywhere.
Ripe for conflict and urgency! (And boredom, which is sometimes more interesting...)
Not yet,
I have always wondered why women in a hair salon feel absolutely free of all boundaries to talk about all kinds of intimate things with their hair stylist. I always think of the stylist as a Priest, (you know what church I once was a member) :) The conversations are usually loud due to the fact that hair blowers are going and women are moving about from station to station.
A treasure trove... I wonder if it's something about the trust that comes with letting someone touch your hair and the disconnect between the mirror and face-to-face eye contact?
i love to people watch at work... i'm a receptionist at an office in my university, and the most interesting characters pass through with ridiculous questions i often don't have an answer for. the conversations that ensue are usually frustrating BUT !silver lining! great writing fodder.
Oh wow you must have a lot of traffic passing through. I'd love to read something about the ridiculous questions you get asked.
I think any public-facing service can be the perfect peoplewatching situ (even/especially the awful customers). I have a lot of retail/receptionist/barkeeping observations...
Inside a second -class sleeper on an Indian train.
Would love to hear some of those stories/observations...
On a walking trail, early in the morning, with other seniors. The conversations, hand gestures, lilts and laughter are priceless. The fancy hand-carved walking sticks, canes, and assortment of rolling walk and sit apparatus add to the mix.
Love it. Have you ever written any of them into a story?
Not yet, but it's a great idea
The library here in the Midwest is not a quiet place anymore so there is a lot of people watching and listening even if I don't want it ! LOL
Ohhh there must be such a difference between people-watching in a place where you have to be quiet vs one where you're allowed to be loud... That's such an interesting contrast.
(Also I used to work in a bookshop and my mum was a librarian and we had SO many crossover stories haha.)
One of my favorite place to watch and listen is the hair salon! There are all kinds of conversations going on there and usually hair stylists are chatty!
My favorite place is anywhere open where I can walk my dog; parks, nature centers, battlefields, places like that. You can't help but see how people interact with each other, how they treat their own dogs, how they interact with you without saying a word. Nothing creepy about this one. If you have a dog, you have to pay attention to avoid people who don't seem to like dogs or people with dogs who have no control over them. While you're at it, you might as well notice how they dress, are they walking like their feet hurt or like they are enjoying the walk, etc. The list just goes on and on about the things you can notice.
Oh yes, getting a dog opened up a whole new world of human (and canine) interaction for me!
My husband and I fell in love because on our very first date 27 years ago, we disclosed this mutual, hidden habit of spying a couple at an event, or restaurant, and creating a story about them, their respective backgrounds, what was going on in their respective lives in that moment we were surreptitiously observing them, what they as a couple were trying to resolve. Sometimes it was two friends, youngsters hanging out, well-aged lovers, teens on prom night, of all races, etc. We weren't always in accord in our storytelling, but we naturally fell into a "yes, and ..." rhythm. I think this is how we got to know each other enough to eventually get married, each of us having been through a wickedly painful first marriage before we met, vowing never again.
this reminds me of the opening of the film past lives which happens to be about perceptive writerly types but in the opening scene the people watching gets turned onto them
This is so lovely :D And the best game. "Yes, and..." is kinda the backbone of any first draft, too.
The very best part of the formal-event suggestion (I loathe them too): it gives us license to sit in a corner by ourselves, and when someone asks why we're not talking/dancing/schmoozing/etc., we can say, "I'm writing."
That is an EXCELLENT point