Eaves-dropping

I've been studying mostly in the library since I began graduate school this fall. This is a change of pattern for me, because throughout my undergraduate years I studied primarily in coffee shops or at my apartment. This evening I spent a good three hours studying at Austin Java on Barton Springs Rd. I quickly became reaquainted with the fact that studying in coffee shops makes for excellent people watching.

For the first hour or so of my studying the table next to mine was occupied by four young women, who were chatting cheerfully with each other and were clearly getting to know each other deeply for the first time. After some time, I realized that they were from the same church, perhaps members of some sort of discipleship or accountability group. It was strange to witness the group, because I remembered several similar groups of which I was a part in former years. I haven't been a part of something like that in a long time, and sometimes I miss people in my life who specifically want to help me be a better person.

I didn't listen too closely to everything they talked about, but toward the end of their conversation it became clear that they were talking about guys and dating. One of the women was advising another one on how to let a guy know that you're interested by asking him out casually for coffee or something like this, and then the guy will take the initiative beyond this, if he's interested. (GUYS--is this true?) Of course, what made the whole scene even more entertaining was the fact that I could see that the guy in front of me was listening to their conversation and laughing to himself a little bit.

I couldn't help but smile to myself about this particular detail, because I can remember countless such conversations with my friends about the same type of situation. These discussions so rarely help the dating situation, and now I'm wondering how many guys laughed at us as we tried to understand the male mind.

After they left, a blonde girl sat down at another nearby table. She had been there a while when a friend of hers joined her. While they sat there, a guy came to join them. He clearly knew the blonde girl and began to flirt with her as soon as he walked up to them. When he left to order coffee, the blonde girl began whispering to her friend about him, and I could tell that she was claiming not to like the guy. However, the friend left for a little while, and I could see that the two of them were clearly into each other. She is in major denial. I was amused to watch them interact--the beginnings of attraction, so significant to the two involved, but to an outside observer, just a couple of flirting kids.

I definitely enjoyed all the people-watching; yet somewhere in the midst of all this eaves-dropping and reading about witchcraft beliefs in early modern Europe and labor history in South Carolina, I realized that as much as I enjoy observing, sometimes I wish I were the one being observed. Tomorrow I'll go back to the library.