Saturday, August 20, 2011

Voyeurs and Lurkers

     While parked at the mall, I watched a man and woman embrace and passionately kiss, oblivious to the world. Instead of going on about my own business, I lurked hidden in my car behind tinted windows. They didn't care; they continued to kiss, gently touching each other's faces and gazing at one another. I rationalized my behavior as character development for the next novel in the series. Really!

     Cars pulled away, others parked and they were still vertically entwined. I glanced at the time. Holy cow, ten minutes later I was still a voyeur behind the glass. In truth I couldn't open my car door. Not because of wanting to see what happened next with the heart melting couple, but because I couldn't open the car door. After sitting there so long saying, "Excuse me, could you move a little so I can shop," just felt slimy.

     While checking Facebook friend requests and searching bios yesterday I realized, the electronic age is creating voyeurs and lurkers. I'm not saying its wrong, but sometimes the truth is a rude awakening. We hide behind a persona, clicking into other peoples lives to learn more about someone we'll likely never meet than our immediate neighbors. We also lurk on blogs and Yahoo Groups without leaving a message, but are excited when a comment comes close to our own opinions.

     I guess admitting to lurking sites and people watching is the first step to moving forward. Is there a Ten Step Program for this problem? Who knows, but the next time I'll probably leave a comment behind a blog post or just people watch in plain sight. It's easier than getting stuck in the car again; the mall is filled with so many more interesting character subjects.
     You wonder how I managed to remove myself gracefully from the parking lot predicament? I started the car and found another parking space : )


2 comments:

  1. so the hidden need to watch others and know about others comes to surface..

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  2. A problem!?!? Surley this is no problem, this is human nature...do we not learn the most about ourselves and others by observation, people watching, voyeurism if you like? It is society and those who have something to hide that make us feel ashamed of it. As you can surely tell I embrace it! I like nothing better than sitting on my balcony watching the world go by below me, oblivious to my gaze, my admiration and my fantasy character assassinations! :-D Keep up the good work...and the watching!

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