The Awkward Eye
Written on 1:41 AM by Anonymous
The look-&-away stare is reminiscent of the problem we face in adolescence in terms of our hands. What do we do with them? Where do we hold them? Amateur actors are also made conscious of this. They are suddenly aware of their hands as awkward appendages that must somehow be used gracefully & naturally.
In the same way, in certain circumstances, we become aware of our glances as awkward appendages. Where shall i look? What shall we do with our eyes?
Two strangers seated across from each other in a railway dinning-car have the option of introducing themselves & facing a meal of inconsequential & perhaps boring talk, or ignoring each other's glance. Cornelia Otis Skinner, describing such a situation in an essay, wrote, 'They reread the menu, they fool with the cutlery, they inspect their own fingernails as if seeing them for the first time. Comes the inevitable moment when glances meet, but they meet only to shoot instantly away & out the window for an intent view of the passing scene.'
This same awkward eye dictates our looking behaviour in elevators & crowded buses & subway trains. When we get on an elevator or train with a crowd we look briefly away at once without locking glances. We say, with our look, we say with our look, ' i see you. I do not know you, but you are human & i will not stare at you.'
If our eyes do meet we can sometimes mitigate the message with a brief smile. The smile must not be too long or too obvious. It must say, "i am sorry we have looked, but we both know it was an accident.'
