Observation

In my job I have ample opportunity for people watching. I spend quite a bit of time behind the counter, and this affords me a great view of the customers coming and going, sitting and waiting. The cinema I run draws a very broad audience because I try to programme a very wide range of films. So there are always interesting people around to observe and study.

Last night a woman came in who I know. I also know her husband and father of her kids. She turned up with a man who was not the man I know. Initially I kind of dismissed it. I often go to movies with men other than my partner. In fact, I can't remember the last time I did go to the movies with my partner... But then she did something odd. She poured herself a cup of water from the cooler, drank half of it, then offered the other half to her date. This struck me as being an oddly intimate thing to do with a man who is not your partner.

She went into the cinema and I did not see her again on the way out (probably doing dishes or putting rubbish out. Who said the the film business was glamorous?) so did not have a chance to ask for an introduction, or ask after her husband. Now I'm curious. It has been quite a while since I spoke to her, so perhaps in the intervening months she's split up with her partner. Or perhaps this guy was her brother or cousin and I'm reading way too much into it. But I don't think so. I see couples together all the time at the movies, and I've got to the point where I can tell when they've had an argument over dinner by the way they come to the counter. I can tell which couples have been together only a short time, and which have been together longer. Body language tells you so much.

I'm looking forward to running into this particular acquaintance again soon, so I can find out what the real story is. I hope she and her husband have not split up, because they are both lovely people and when I found out they were together, it felt right.