Spotting A Doppelgager

Yogi Berra said, “You can observe a lot by just watching.” I guess that’s how a fake Santa Claus recently got caught groping one of his elves. Someone was watching.

As a passionate spectator, I enjoy people watching. It isn’t really voyeurism, because for writers and actors it’s in the realm of mining for creative material.

New York City is my favorite city for people watching. As a visitor, I am never in much of a hurry, and enjoy sitting outside, at a small café table, with a cup of tea, watching and wondering about all those people rushing by---and rush they do---all day and all night. Life in New York is hectic. I noticed that even the children are in a hurry. New York is known as; “The city that never sleeps.” My son, Josh said, “That’s why everyone here is so cranky.”

Contemplation has always been a part of my life, but watching the hurrying crowds makes me wonder if anyone ever stops to pay attention. Gerard Way said, “Someday your life will flash before your eyes. Make sure it’s worth watching.”

Nowadays, because of cell phones, observing people inevitably leads to unintended eavesdropping. Most of the time, through no fault of my own, I catch a snatch of conversation coming my way. It’s hard not to pay attention, when, sitting in a restroom stall, a woman in the stall next to me, shouts on her cell phone, “What do you mean your brother is moving in with us?” She took the news sitting down. I got out of there before hearing the rest of the story.

Airports are ripe for people watching. Imagining can be fun. “Is he a bagman for the mob, or is that a salami sandwich in his briefcase?” “Is she crying because watching her friend leave is so hard, or is she crying because she had to drive him to the airport at 3 a.m.” Or, “Is that a nail piercing his earlobe or an antenna?”

When my father was at the airport, he saw someone who looked very familiar. Was it someone he should know or a doppelganger? (A double of someone he knew.) My father made eye contact with the man, and not wanting to be rude, approached him and said, “Excuse me, but I do know you from somewhere, and I just wanted to say, ‘Hello.”’ People watching did pay off. He had seen the man before, but they had never met. Walter Cronkite didn’t know my father, but graciously acknowledged the greeting.

One thing to remember about people watching is to be alert, because they are probably watching you too. When I was at a museum in Washington, DC, a man approached me and said, “Excuse me, but my wife and I were arguing about what you are. I say you are French and my wife thinks you are Spanish?” I looked at him and said, “Sir, I am an Epicurean.” Let them go watch someone else.

Esther Blumenfeld (“Here’s looking at you, kid”) Humphrey Bogart