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 : )