People watching is the undercover art of being highly observant, incognito. Often, I’ll park myself on a mall bench somewhere just so I can see what people are up to, what they think is new and hot, and shamelessly eavesdrop on their lives. Don’t act like you’ve never done it before! (If you haven’t tried it before, take 5 minutes the next time you’re out n’ about and check into the hubbub)
In such moments, I find it incredibly entertaining to watch two groups of people – men and women shoppers. The differences between the sexes are at once hilarious and scary!
As a woman, I am faced with the daunting prospect of worrying about buying thoughtful, sentimental gifts for my entire family (there’s a lot of us). In these anxious moments, I wish I could cash in my worries for the focus of a man. Maybe that sounds sexist, but it’s true!
I watched a gentleman the other day make his way around a store in 20 minutes. He picked up 20 items (that’s 1 item a minute!) and made his purchase. He left the store but not before he could exclaim “thank god that’s done! And to all a good night!”… (Ok that last part was my people watching ad lib for the day)
I saw another guy, walk into a store, go straight for what he wanted, without looking hither or thither (with selection abounding!) and walk right out with his bag in under 3 minutes – with a great promotion under his belt to boot! Now that’s gotta be some kind of record! Women on the other hand, spend half their time comparing prices, and the other half of their time asking everyone’s opinion.
I can’t say one is truly better than the other, but this year I would bet my weight in gold that you’d be far more filled with holiday cheer if you simply did some people watching of your own, so you could see for yourself what the other side is bringing to the table. Let’s all make the effort to be less worried and a little easier on our fellow shoppers, with a chilled out plan in tow. And if all else fails, there’s always the internet.
www.lovefresh.com baby 
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