. . . I don't mean in the flirting sense, but sort of like being halfway to total closed-eye pontification: I've been noticing more and more people who seem to partially roll their eyes back and flutter their eyelids while talking, often when coming to the end a phrase. There's a guy at work who does this nearly all the time he talks, and a new guy at work who consciously or unconsciously picks up on everyone else's habits and is doing this too. It's ultra annoying! But I also have co-workers who have Tourette-like tics and they tic several times a minute and it's very annoying but I'm sure it bothers them even more than it bothers me and it's probably not right for me to complain about it. Maybe this eye-rolling-fluttering thing is something like that? Or is it actually a habit? I'm not usually bothered by little things like this, but ugh!
I say get a strange habit of your own and join in. Sounds like your office is two tricks away from selling tickets.
I've been noticing more of this lately, especially in younger people. My pop psychology analysis is that they are uncomfortable with face to face interaction. Perhaps such socialization is harmed by a life time of text messaging and snapchat. But if somebody is uncomfortable looking another person in the eye, their own eyes will likely wander.
I'm sorry I can't relate - I have my own eye thing going on! Anyway, I wonder if back in the Middle Ages people used to walk around saying "you know? This is a long time ago!"
I'm wondering if you've ever seen video of yourself. People are often unaware of how they come across visually. Try watching yourself on Skype when you're talking, or in a mirror when you're on the phone. You'll be amazed at your own facial tics.
^^Yeah. I once had a colleague who had a nervous tick: His right eye kept twitching uncontrollably. It was quite distracting, but obviously nobody felt they should comment on it. He clearly had to know, so why harp on it, right? At one point, he went to some seminars that were supposed to make us better teachers. Part of that was being filmed, so that you could evaluate your own performance from the outside afterwards. "Well, you know how it is." he told me afterwards. "Observation changes the observed, and so on. It's like those mechanical voices on answerphones: I don't sound like I hear myself, but neither does anybody else I call. Frankly, I must have gotten so nervous knowing that the camera was there, I actually developed some kind of weird tick on my right eye. Can you imagine? I looked like a real freak on that video -- sick somehow, and frankly more than a bit disgusting!" He's happily married to a gorgeous wife, with two beautiful kids, and his students love him. I just nodded and smiled. I just hope they manage to keep him away from webcams for the rest of his life.
