Wonder if they know...

People do strange things when they think no one is watching them. I love looking over at the person in the car next to me when I'm at a stoplight and wondering where they're going or where they've just come from, and it never fails to make me smile when I see someone singing or "dancing" in their car, mostly because I do that myself all the time. I people watch when I'm at restaurants or in the mall, and I entertain myself by watching people's mannerisms and such.

Even more strange, however, is what some people are willing to do while people are watching them. One classic example of that is watching how people discipline their children in public, or simply watching how people talk to others that they don't know very well. I'll never forget the brazen greeting I got from a guy I met the first day at my new job, and I am still amazed at the things he says when I am around him. I don't think he's trying to be crass or anything, but I do think it comes across that way sometimes...whether or not he knows it.

I was working the other night when a married couple came in and were talking to each other as they were taking care of some things, and hearing the way they were talking to each other made me uncomfortable just to be within earshot. Every once in a while the husband would shoot me a look, as if he thought I was supposed to be on his side or make a certain comment in his defense or something. I didn't want to say anything, and really didn't, but it left me wondering what their home life is like. Wondering if their kids saw this kind of behavior, wondering if this was a regular occurrence or just a here and there thing.

What would happen if we were all more aware of the things we did, whether in public or in private? Would it keep us from doing crazy things, or prevent us from taking risks altogether? Would it make us more intentional about the things we did? Or would it turn us into people who were so obsessed with what others thought of us that we would no longer act for ourselves? The decision is yours.