You know that part in the movie Amelie where it says that one of her favorite things is to turn away from the screen and watch the faces of people in movie theatres? Well, I love something similar. I love to watch people react to something and then get caught doing it and then react to getting caught. Lost yet? I'll give you an example.
Today I was at the gym and multiple people on machines where watching the Wimbledon finals. When Nadal won, this woman on the treadmill threw both of her hands up and smiled so big and broad, you thought she might have been in the stands. She quickly noticed her involuntary reaction and that a few people had seen it; she smiled slyly and kept running. Another girl, just had a huge grin on her face and was mouthing "YES!" and when she saw that I was watching her, she drew her gaze to the floor, slightly embarrassed, but still grinning.
Crossing 9th avenue, I was almost hit by a woman on rollerblades. She was looking at the ground while riding in traffic in Manhattan, she glanced up before I swerved to avoid her crashing into me and I just smiled and thought - how absurd to almost be hit by someone on rollerskates in New York. I looked up and this man was watching me and smiled.
These little moments, they seem to be insights into a person, in a city sometimes so impersonal. It's as if they let their guard down for just a minute and no one else got to see it but you. I love that.
