ADDED: 14 seconds is a long time to look at someone. Singh sounds ridiculous mostly because he specified a number and it's not a more normal-seeming number like 10. (I checked the Wikipedia article on the number 14 to see if 14 might be special in India, but the closest I'm seeing is the number of years of Rama's exile in the forests.)
If you look at articles on making eye contact with people, you'll see that even a quarter second can make the difference in moving a glance to an expression of interest. Example:
My man tells me that construction workers in Canada are told to obey the "3 second rule" by their employers... So basically it's one second to look at the girl, another second to study her and decide if she is pretty, and another second to enjoy the view, before returning eyes to the task at hand. Anything beyond that is creepy and likely dangerous in some way. I would agree....AND: "Staring into someone’s eyes for as little as 10 seconds can be an intense experience of connection, or one of discomfort. So what happens when you look into a person’s eyes for 10 minutes?... A new Italian study finds that when people look into each other’s eyes for a long period of time, they often experience symptoms of dissociation — including feelings of detachment from one’s body and from reality — and full-on hallucinations."
Subway staring is a big problem where I live (Toronto). It is often the result of "DeathFace", which is a common syndrome out here affecting the overworked, causing them to forget they are in a subway and stare off blankly into what they mistakenly think is space, but usually is people.... I am often the victim of these types but have learned to ignore them. I pity them, actually....
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Good to have that clarified.
Aggressive eye stalking should be illegal for men. That works as a woman's best weapon, but few men can use it right.
Years ago I was sitting in the university library staring off into the distance when a women intruded into my personal space, causing me to start. She was offended that I'd been staring at her. Evidently my start had been convincing because midway into her accusation, she stopped and said: "You weren't looking at me, were you?" No, I wasn't. I was just thinking with my eyes open.
So, I think it dangerous if people can be punished for staring. And, don't get me started on the times women have been offended because I didn't notice them.
I wonder what it says about a language when its alphabet is completely squiggly, with not a straight line in sight? Does the system of writing shape the system of thought?
That's the idiotic Greek theory of sight, that sight eminates from the eye and proceeds to the target, and at impact the target is seen.
The great thing about the theory is it accounts wonderfully for why, if you put your hand in the way, you see your hand instead.
But it's been largely disproven, and men by and large know about that.
Tell the woman that she's the one sending off light which spreads out and impacts the guy's eyeball. The guy has nothing to do with it.
This is way too strict. Criminal sanctions should start at 17.5 seconds.
Fourteen seconds in one stare or in the aggregate? If the latter, over what period of time? What if his stopwatch differs from hers?
Cattle are talented starers.
Dress in black. Wear a burka to intercept absorb light from light-emitting breasts.
A lead bra would be a good defense against x-ray glasses, if they still sell those to the public.
Amexpat, it varies from state to state. In Kerala, it's 14 seconds, but in Mississippi, you can go all the way to 21 seconds without committing a crime, and it's only a misdemeanor.
The United Nations should do something about this.
Feminism has put a huge dent in x-ray glasses sales.
Maybe a timer could be put on women, and after 18 seconds something shuts unless you put another quarter in.
DAVE
When did you know?... About me.
ELLEN
I think in the car.
DAVE
The car?
ELLEN
On the way to the homeless shelter.
You looked at my leg.
Bill lost interest a long time ago.
DAVE
That's good. I was worried it was the
shower.
Dave (1993)
That's rape in Sweden
- standard British joke, a reply to "excuse me."
Nobody can stare like people in India can stare
Of course if you're jerkin' off at the time, all bets are off.
A similar restriction happened when cell phones started.
It used to be that anybody with a radio could listen to anything - after all the radio waves are coming onto somebody's property and exciting his electronics, much as the eyeball is free to look at whatever comes its way.
But cell phones worked unencrypted so they passed a law that there are certain frequencies you're forbidden to listen to, a sop to two interest groups : cell phone users and cell phone companies who didn't want to spend any money on encryption.
So now there's this hole in people's rights where there didn't use to be, estabilishing a precedent.
How they chose 14. Because it's written, that's why.
And the Lord spake, saying, "First shalt thou take out the Holy Pin. Then shalt thou count to fourteen, no more, no less. Fourteen shall be the number thou shalt count, and the number of the counting shall be fourteen. Fifteen shalt thou not count, neither count thou thirteen, excepting that thou then proceed to fourteen. Sixteen is right out. Once the number fourteen, being the fourteenth number, be reached, then lobbest thou thy Holy Hand Grenade of Antioch towards thy foe, who, being naughty in My sight, shall snuff it.
Does this have anything to do with that survey last week showing Indian men having the shortest penises on average?
Anything beyond that is creepy and likely dangerous in some way. I would agree...
Especially if the guy is operating a backhoe.
Give money to the Clinton Foundation and you too can have a private stare at Hillary. $100,000 gets you 10 seconds. Chit for chat.
The thousand-yard stare is typical on BART, if its not the cellphone stare. Its a pity about the phones, the people on the train are often fascinating, in a social-science, or perhaps a medical-science, sense.
Also fine subjects for a novelist. On any given day, there are trainloads of characters suited to any genre of fiction. Every one is a good subject for speculating.
Half are some variant on Willy Loman of course, but you can do a lot with that.
I hope those pesky men are still allowed to stare at goats.
If you stare into somebody's eyes for ten minutes, first of all there's only one eye, and there's usually something else going on. Hallucinations is the wrong word.
"Meade said...
Give money to the Clinton Foundation and you too can have a private stare at Hillary. $100,000 gets you 10 seconds. Chit for chat."
Warning: You can only do that once!
People--and women especially but not exclusively--put tons of effort into looking noteworthy and eye catching, but, paradoxically, you don't want to be too eye catching. I was glad to see that Lady Gaga's dress made of beefsteaks didn't catch on.
Woman, I am not staring at you, I am staring into your soul.
I can see your Hopes and Fears.
I can see the Struggles you think you are hiding.
I can see you wrestling with your conscience.
I can see you wrestling with your beliefs.
I can see your proximity to the Abyss.
I can see your dreams of London.
I can see your dreams of France.
I can see your underpants.
It's not my fault your skirt is so short.
I am Laslo.
... when people look into each other’s eyes for a long period of time, they often experience symptoms of dissociation — including feelings of detachment from one’s body and from reality — and full-on hallucinations.
Especially if the girl has kaleidoscope eyes.
I could stare at Kate Upton for several hours. Well, I could stare at her breasts for several hours. Is that the same thing?
And is it wrong?
My stares keep getting interrupted with claims of I'm up here! No, you're everywhere from the bottoms of your feet to the top of your head. I don't succumb to this facial-centric bias. I always aim my gaze at a woman's center of mass.
Out of respect.
A woman's decision to wear yoga pants negates the fourteen-second rule.
It takes more than fourteen seconds to fully appreciate good camel-toe.
I am Laslo.
And if you gaze long into the Clinton Foundation, the Clinton Foundation also gazes into you.
I love to stare at people on the T. Especially when it is really crowded and you are pressed up against a hotty.
Gotta be quicker with your glances, boys.
"My man tells me that construction workers in Canada are told to obey the "3 second rule" by their employers... So basically it's one second to look at the girl, another second to study her and decide if she is pretty, and another second to enjoy the view, before returning eyes to the task at hand. Anything beyond that is creepy and likely dangerous in some way."
These days I am careful not to look at women at work *at all*. Just don't. Not in the hall, not in the cube, not in a meeting. Who cares if she's pretty? What difference does it make? She's just out of college, which means she is a harassment charge looking for someone to happen to. Who knows what crazy shit she believes. You want to look at a woman, google "woman". But not at work.
Remember when black people looking white people in the eyes was bad too?
A lot of Modern Women are natural totalitarians, aren't they?
Take a picture — it lasts longer.
Plus, you can text your photo to, say, Anthony Weiner.
Good times.
Rude behavior, bad behavior, ambiguous behavior--all should be criminalized.
I can't imagine any possible negative consequences, no ma'am.
Following that link has given me the impression that at least some women are obsessed about being looked at. I think SGT Ted is on to something. Wasn't their a rule at one time about social inferiors looking down and not at those of a higher social standing when interacting with them?
So here's a conundrum. You meet a hottie in a bikini. Clearly, she's underdressed. She's 95% uncovered! So, being a gentleman, I look only at her covered parts, so as not to embarrass her while she is showing all that skin.
Problem is, I keep getting slaps.... women these days! Don't they know gentlemanly actions when they see one?
I am not Laslo, but I think he may have this problem as well.......
Should women be allowed to control our eyeballs?
If someone stares, boldly stare back. It throws them off their game. Especially if you can stare longer without blinking.
You best not be lookin' at no white woman boy.
I was under the impression eye contact was mutual.
Being seen is not being harmed. This is about *temerity* and who must defer to whom. Don't be uppity and think you can look at me!
Taking her picture might steal her soul.
Needs to be natural consequences, like when you go swimming 29 minutes after eating.
'A cat may look at a king'.
Just because a cat has rights doesn't mean you have, bucko. Check your privilege.
Char Char Binks said...
Should women be allowed to control our eyeballs?
Keep your laws off my (eye)balls!
Wow, Laslo! London, France, underpants! That takes me back to kindergarten.
Perhaps the judge never heard that "even a cat can look at a king"?
Peter, I already posted that. ;-)
Meade said... [hush][hide comment]
Take a picture — it lasts longer.
Plus, you can text your photo to, say, Anthony Weiner.
Good times.
Had a friend in eigth grade who wanted to be a reporter. Carried a camera everywhere.
We got the "Take a picture " comment from a girl at the movies He reached into his pocket and pulled out his Kodak and snapped a pic. Pretty damn funny.!
Meade said...
Take a picture — it lasts longer.
Urban Dictionary: Creepshot
UK Police: Taking Pics of Women Without Consent Can Be A Hate Crime
mccullough said...
Gotta be quicker with your glances, boys.
Looking at cleavage is like looking at the sun.
The new law will be that men who violate the 14-second rule shall have both eyes plucked out in front of an angry mob of butch feminists. The eyes will be thrown into the mob for mashing.
The eyes will be thrown into the mob for mashing.
Eeeuuuww! Remember the scene in Kill Bill 2 when Bea squashes Elle's eye under her bare foot?
I wonder what your six-year-old self was like, Laslo.
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