Reading Faces

No...me too. I sometimes just love grabbing a coffee in the local shopping centre and watching people as they go about their day to day rituals. It can be fairly obvious who is having a good day and who is having a crappy one. My newest job and previous employment as a security/bouncer give me plenty of opportunity to watch people. It was always interesting even as a carpenter. Watching the customers shoulders drop as I removed their kitchen as everything they were used to was removed and that comfortable space looked totally foreign to them. Then watching their expression completely change as the new Kitchen took shape. Watching the excitement build as I got nearer to finishing. People are so much fun.

No I definitely notice stuff, facial expressions, body language, hands, etc. It helps me read whether a patient is going to be difficult, easy, easily upset, etc. With personal life, it definitely helps avoid difficult situations when I can tell it'd be better to wait til another time to deal with something. In public, it's pretty much just like entertaient unless I need to deal with the person or people I'm watching.

yeah it almost got me into a heap of trouble one day i to was at a cafe getting some fish and chips ans a young woman in her early thirty's was wait ing for her lunch,... i saw what she ordered some sandwiches .,,,and being to her left and slightly behind i was admiring her beauty and i was absorbed like you would look at a painting and i couldn't help but admire how she had put everything together and i could see the little flaws of her but not her poise and clothes she looked beautiful ,i realised that my intense scruitney had been noticed because i rember seeing her stance and head nostrals all changed she diddn't like being observed one bit. Blue.

Most people have terrible poker faces. Have a difficult time hiding their emotions. If something ticks them off or frustrates them, I tend to notice that right away. I don't think many people even go through the trouble or hassle of hiding them either. I've yet to determine whether that is a good thing or not. While some things need to be said for stoicism and maintaining your calm and dignity in any situation and not freaking out, some thing else entirely needs to be said for repressing one's desire, frustration and anger to the point it becomes a character defect, you know? I'm still at two minds on this. While I love to people watch, I'm afraid I'm still terrible at interacting with people.

If the example that you gave of strangers sitting right next to you starting up a conversation while there are plenty of empty seats around (which happens to me quite often as I am a crazy magnet), I try not to let my discomfort show all that much, but I feel that I am transparent and give away my insecurities all too easily. But then maybe not, because they keep talking to me and don't go away.

uni - I feel, and experience have shown me, I'm good at reading people. Most of the time I feel it's a great advantage, occasionally I wished I would just be clueless!

People very, very close to me have told me they can read me on one on one basis but in a social setting/gatherig they say they can't tell that I am experiencing anxiety, agitation unless I tell them afterwards. This is mostly what P and I still are trying to iron out in our relationships; he feels he still need to be in good tune that even though I appear to be having a good time, I'm still a bundle of nerves.

I can't and don't fake my emotions, what I feel shows but somehow in a gathering (that I try to avoid in the first place!) it does not become transparent that it's an effort for me. I've been often told I have a very kind, open, inviting, friendly face, which is the first impression I usually get. Perhaps the first impression I give off, and my genuine like and curiosity for people blankets the anxiety that is most evident when I am alone, and simply thinking of a meeting or a gathering I have to go to. It seems to magically go away when I find myself in the actual situation. Only the space between the two needs to be bridge. (I hope this made sense!)

haha, apparently your not the only one : P

Idk, I cant say if im good or bad at it, id like to think I was good at it but I think people are a little biased...like they have preconcieved notions and want them fulfilled so something neutral could be twisted into whatever they want. Ya know what I mean?

I know there are a select amount of people im around enough that I can read them easily, my dad for one. One look at his eyebrows and the vein on his forehead and I know exactly how much distance I need to put safetly between us.

Phil, honestly im prolly better at reading my dad than my husband. My husband is pretty even tempered tho, generally I think im good at reading him but it wouldnt surprise me if I let quite a bit slip by.

My mother, woo wee...who knows, that woman is nuts. She wears everything on her sleeve, she doesnt give people a chance to read her, absolutly no filter. Thats the one side of her personality, the other side is the manipulative passive aggressive side...I cant read it, she is so good at that side, she could win oscars for her performances.

As far as reading strangers, this is where I think that preconceived bit comes in...Sorta like when I walk in some place and survey the room im immediatly convinced that every male in there wants me lol (cause I think I look hot at that time), other times if im not feeling particularly confident I feel like everyone is judging me and talking badly about me...and then when im regular and not overly or underly confident, I can subjectively read people...but dont really have a way to see if im right or wrong.

Having said all that, very nice post uni, enjoyable reading.