1-17-09: Funny Observations, Part 1

Every once in a while, I like to stop and do a little people watching. I don't schedule it or anything; if I find myself with a minute or two of time to kill, I'll just sit back and observe.

Here are just a few things that I saw (or concluded) recently:

• Men more frequently top off their tanks than women when fueling their cars. Women also tend to spill a little gas after taking the nozzle out than men. There's probably nothing to it, but most men might catch my drift on that one. Sorry for the image, folks. Just an observation.
  
• There's generally a "five step rule" when it comes to holding a door for some one. If some one is within five steps of the door, people tend to hold the door. At least, that's what I use. I also take longer strides when approaching the door, but not every one uses the rule.
  
• It's socially acceptable to repeat some one else after they've given a third person an answer to a question if you were previously familiar with the answer. For example (and I did this the other day so I'm as guilty as any), Bill asks Dan "What was that movie with Eddie Murphy and Nick Nolte?" Dan is attempting to get the answer, but Rick, also involved in the conversation, answers "48 Hours". A split second later, Dan replies "48 Hours, yeah." Isn't this a bit odd? Why do we do this?

Tune in next week for more stupid observations, or add your own in the comments. It's important to take stock now and again, and do some people watching.