Over the last year, I tried to observe people and their reaction to human company; I was quite surprised that nearly 80% of the people who worked with or around me in that period almost most certainly walked fast, or suddenly received a phone call when the other person was about to say hello! Since not every one can be so busy, I began to staunchly believe that most of these people follow the above principle. Because, in this day and age, people don’t really have the time, or for that matter, don’t need to walk fast anywhere, they seem to have decided to walk with a purpose no matter where they are going, to act busy.
Now, ‘walking with a purpose’ is in itself an art; these people (including me!) walk with a straight and a very serious face, and at all times refuse eye contact with the person walking by you, or standing next to you. Walking with a purpose also requires a person to have a gloomy look, and if you are able to take long strides it would then mean that you are busier than ever.
Now, the all-important question is, why did “I” have to conduct this study?, which in itself is devoid of all purposes. To be honest, I never observed anyone with an intention to study them; I am not qualified to embark on an interpretive journey of the human behavior. But, but, but… I did find that today, people go to all extents to avoid the other guy, no matter who that person is. For example, a boss thinks it is demeaning to talk to his team member in public; I would sincerely like to believe that he is doing so that other people do not consider the boss too soft. What surprises me is that people refuse to even smile at the other person, they don’t even want to acknowledge a greeting. Nearly 90% of the time, the person trying to smile at me would be the person I know for years, it is the same for other people as well.
How do they avoid it you may ask, simple, they just avoid eye contact. Now isn’t that cool! People today would rather talk to sales people on the phone, even if it is to shout at them for disrupting their ‘busy’ life, than get on to a conversation with the next guy.
How do they avoid it you may ask, simple, they just avoid eye contact. Now isn’t that cool! People today would rather talk to sales people on the phone, even if it is to shout at them for disrupting their ‘busy’ life, than get on to a conversation with the next guy.
I remember my grandmother talking to her friends about everything under their ‘sun,’ for hours together without getting bored. Today! Neither my grandmother nor her friends are alive, and I have not yet found anyone who can hold a decent conversation, which is completely non-controversial. I don’t say that we should all stop whatever it is that we are doing and start yakking away with other people over meaningless topics, I just miss those tidbits my grandmother used to tell me about what her friend’s grand kid did that particular day.
Basically, my one-year observation reinforced my belief in “when you have nothing to do, walk with a purpose, and act busy;” Can a-rithist sin? (kahn uh-REE-isht shin). (That’s Scottish Gaelic for, “you can say that again.”)
