A Little MS with a Little MSW

I am a people watcher and a serial eye contact maker. I can’t help it. I try to avoid mass crowds, partly for this reason. I find that when I am in a large crowd, I spend a lot of my time saying, “excuse me” or “I’m sorry.” And it’s exhausting. And guess what I noticed today? My oldest child does not do this.

She acknowledged almost every dog in the crowd, but very rarely did I see her look at a person. She fixated her gaze on an object of interest and walked in that direction; human obstacles be damned. Being the people watcher that I am, I also observed how others were maneuvering through this buzzing sea of mortals some call a festival.

Today’s findings were interesting: my child’s actions were in the majority. Yes, there were other people watchers in attendance and yes, I made eye contact with many others, but most were in their own little bubble or fixated on one of the many inanimate objects for sale and searching for the quickest route to ogle it within reach.

Is that what we must do, then, to survive a mob of people with our sanity intact? Must we meander through the crowded streets as though we are the only one in attendance, save for a few random canines? I tried this today and I could not do it. I think this stems from my personal opinion that dismissiveness is one of the most unattractive qualities a person can possess.

So, is it rude to cut people off or bump them without a word or a glance? Are those events so expected in a crowd of people that they simply go unnoticed? Being a people watcher and an overthinker is hard, y’all! My questions are valid though. How important is it that we as people acknowledge one another? #soimportant #mannersaretimeless