I know all of you have experienced this at some point in their life: where you walk towards some people talking, they stop when they see you nearby and continue talking when you're not near them anymore.

This generally happens for one of two reasons. One, they're talking about you and don't want you to hear them. Or two, they don't want you to hear what they're talking about for fear you might tell someone else.

I ran in to a situation like this today. However, there's a catch.

I walk towards a closed door, but I can hear that there are two people in the room I'm approaching. I open the door and the conversation stops. I go in, hit the button that tracks where I've patrolled and walked out. As soon as the door shut behind me, the conversation started up again. What makes this different from normal situations like that?

They weren't speaking English. I had no clue what they were saying, nor did I really give a shit. Yet, for some reason, they felt compelled to stop speaking while I was in the room.

It wasn't even a typical language that I might have learned in school. If they had been speaking Spanish, French or even German or Japanese, then maybe I could understand the possibility of me maybe understanding some of what they were saying. But they were speaking some kind of African language. Something they don't teach you in school. Least not high school.

It irked me for the simple fact that it's fairly obvious that I would have no idea what they were saying. I'm unmistakably white. You can't even pretend that I might be some other race. The odds of me understanding what you're saying are less than slim to none.

So please, by all means, continue your conversation. Pretend I'm not even in the room. I have no clue what the fuck you're saying.

Maybe it's not one of the two reasons. I, for one, don't like people listening to a conversation if it's something I wouldn't announce to a crowd. If a stranger walks past, I'm going to falter because it weirds me out to imagine that they're listening, even if it's not about them or they couldn't possibly spread my story to people who care. I just don't like extra listeners.
» middaymoon on 2011-06-24 08:10:32

Heightened sense of privacy, maybe. Perhaps they come from a culture where it's inappropriate to talk without regard for who walks by.
» randomjunk on 2011-06-24 03:51:03

Sorry, you do not have permission to comment.

If you are a member, try logging in again or accessing this page here.