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When I'm in a coffee shop sometimes the people watching me as I code in a somewhat frenzied manner, kinda weirds me out. Do you find it easy to block out the p

by abledon 11y ago

When I'm in a coffee shop sometimes the people watching me as I code in a somewhat frenzied manner, kinda weirds me out. Do you find it easy to block out the peripheral perception that 3-4 people are just staring at you from across the room?

dkopi 11y ago
It's just that. a perception. Everyone's a bit self aware, but the truth is that people around us are also very self aware. People will look at you every once in a while, but they're looking at everyone else as well. People watching is fun, and a main reason people go to coffee shops. If you ever do catch someone staring at you, just give them a friendly smile. They might even be waiting for a signal that it's okay to come over and ask what it is you're working on, because you seem very passionate about it.
- marklyon 11y ago
  The friendly smile is key. I was working on a project at an airport - I had something like a six hour layover and set up at a nice table near the food court - I noticed I was being watched and smiled back. The kid came over to me and asked what I was doing. Seems he'd learned some HTML and JavaScript, but was being told in school that "real" programming was super-hard and not for him. We ended up spending about an hour talking about studying CS, how he could learn programming on his own and I eventually sent him away to catch his flight with my copy of the Rat-cover Python book. He stayed in touch. Today, he's living his dream working on a rather awesome-sounding project.
Grishnakh 11y ago
I've done coding and other laptop work in coffee shops many times, and I'm usually acutely aware of my surroundings and people around me. I've never noticed anyone staring at me in a coffee shop. Are you doing something unusual to bring this attention on yourself? Or do you live in a place with jerks? Also, what ethnicity were the people staring at you? Some cultures (like Indian) don't have the cultural aversion to staring that westerners do (though usually ones who come over here figure that out pretty quickly and stop it).

by abledon 11y ago

dkopi 11y ago

It's just that. a perception. Everyone's a bit self aware, but the truth is that people around us are also very self aware. People will look at you every once in a while, but they're looking at everyone else as well. People watching is fun, and a main reason people go to coffee shops. If you ever do catch someone staring at you, just give them a friendly smile. They might even be waiting for a signal that it's okay to come over and ask what it is you're working on, because you seem very passionate about it.

marklyon 11y ago
The friendly smile is key. I was working on a project at an airport - I had something like a six hour layover and set up at a nice table near the food court - I noticed I was being watched and smiled back. The kid came over to me and asked what I was doing. Seems he'd learned some HTML and JavaScript, but was being told in school that "real" programming was super-hard and not for him. We ended up spending about an hour talking about studying CS, how he could learn programming on his own and I eventually sent him away to catch his flight with my copy of the Rat-cover Python book. He stayed in touch. Today, he's living his dream working on a rather awesome-sounding project.

Grishnakh 11y ago

I've done coding and other laptop work in coffee shops many times, and I'm usually acutely aware of my surroundings and people around me. I've never noticed anyone staring at me in a coffee shop. Are you doing something unusual to bring this attention on yourself? Or do you live in a place with jerks? Also, what ethnicity were the people staring at you? Some cultures (like Indian) don't have the cultural aversion to staring that westerners do (though usually ones who come over here figure that out pretty quickly and stop it).