Eavesdropping/people-watching will never cease to be a fabulous pastime: It’s the most fascinating intersection of surprisingly random and often ridiculous. Essentially, both lift us from a life that we know and drop us into the familiar unfamiliar of someone else’s.

Somewhat like a TV series, actually, lately I’ve been following the development of two acquaintances (with each other) in my Econ class. This time, a guy, a girl and daily small talk have revealed yet again the intriguing ways people try and develop relationships. But it was also a lesson in what our most oblivious moments looks like from the outside. Thursday morning, as I settled myself in my seat and prepared myself for supply and demand, the girl was inviting the guy to some party on the Row Friday night. She proclaimed:

“I’m probably gonna get so freaking smashed, just warning you.”

To which he responded, while looking down at his paper and getting out a pencil:

“Ah, yeah, thanks for the warning.”

And then she went on explaining how she “tends to do that,” etc.

First of all, I just realized how awkward it might be if they read this.

Second of all, isn’t it fascinating how this girl didn’t realize, via sight, that her really strong signals weren’t being received?

It got me thinking about how strong our nonverbal signals are–and how unaware we can be as we give them, or as we don’t acknowledge them. According to NPR, the attraction we feel for someone has more to do with body language than anything else, though we clearly aren’t always aware.

In another way more creepy and purposeful instance of people-watching, today I saw much mooching and schmoozing at a business company info session. I went, looking forward to seeing dressed-up people giggle politely and nod their heads a lot, all of which I got. It was great entertainment, but I suppose that it all is strategic, right? Harvard says so, in a study I found about the importance of stance and poses for fostering confidence in interviews and such.

But my favorite overheard comment today came from a huge athlete guy muttering to himself as he changed seats at a nearby table at Tres:

“My ass is too damn flat for this chair…”