Why Do We People Watch?

Watching Me, Watching You, Watching Them.

The Sound Of The Underground.

Why do we people watch? Why are we so interested or intrigued? Why does nobody speak on the tube in London?

In January 2019 I went to work away in London for a short time. I was staying in a hotel in the Archways area of London on the outskirts of the main city centre.

Each day I would get on the Tube at the underground station. I would be travelling to Farringdon right in the middle of London it was an overwhelming initial experience because I have never seen so many people try to get on one train when in 4 minutes there would be another train!

I found the whole situation truly strange. It was like there was never going to be another train again that day. It’s quite surreal when you see for yourself how the London Underground is jam-packed with people.

But for some reason, nobody speaks, people have headphones on or a gadget of sorts. I thought I was daydreaming because the silence was deafening.

Everything is communicated through gestures and eye contact. There doesn’t seem any reasonable explanation for this behaviour.

You would have to say being interested or intrigued is just human nature and I just think it’s a natural reaction and curiosity. So the underground stations are extremely busy with people hurtling up and down escalators barging you out of there way, but bizarrely not that noisy.

That’s the sound of the underground.

A deafening silence.

#KindnessChallenge #MentalHealthAwareness.

Brian Anthony Cumberlidge.