Don't Stare At Me!

Hi friends,

As I was shopping at my local supermarket today, there were two men at the check out counter who were literally staring at me putting my shopping on the conveyer belt. I did not have anything out of this world, just milk and chocolates. They saw my every action and move, as I was lifting things out from the basket to put on the belt. One of them even saw me taking my wallet out and seeing how much money I was giving over. He continued to see till the minute I picked up my bags and left.

Why was he staring? What were his eyes so transfixed on? I don't know.

Staring is the act of "To look directly and fixedly, often with a wide-eyed gaze." Some people can stare at objects and be glues to it till they are snapped out of it. Sometimes people stare at other people. Why do they do it?

I think there are several reasons for it. One is curiosity. When they see someone who is different from them, they like to look at that person and out of curiosity try to figure out who the person is. Which is probably why those two people were looking at me. Another reason may be that the person loves what he is seeing and focuses his/ her eyes on something that has attracted them. The opposite could be true; when we see someone who looks different from us, such as someone who is handicapped, we stare.

No doubt staring is downright rude. Sometimes its an innocent mistake, but otherwise, its absolutely rude. I myself have been in so many places where I feel like people are checking me out by staring. I mean, go to any deserted shopping malls, and you see the shop owners outside at their shops, staring at the customers with such intent.

However, there is something else I do: people-watching, which I consider different from staring. I do this in two places. One at Deira City Center in Dubai. Another is at Mecca, after the 'umrah' when I sit down on the steps and watch the people go by. People-watching is a lot of fun because it is simply amazing to see God's creations, and be in awe of how awesome God is in His designs. Two, it is a lot of fun to try to figure out where the people are from. However, I never let myself stare at people; I always glance over them.

I still don't know why those two men in the supermarket were continuously staring at me. I just know I don't like being stared at. There have been several other instances where I literally had to tell people to stop looking at me. Other instances it turned out they were checking me out. Other cases where they simply wondered where I was from. What do I do when people stare? I smile at them, nod my head. Often that gets them to stop staring. If not, I may wink at them, and if that doesn't work, I actually say out loud "can I help you?"

What do you when you are being stared at? Tell me your techniques, and maybe I can employ your technique! Oi, you, there, on the computer,stop staring at me as I write this article! Lol!

Mansur