Don't Tell Your Secrets to Anyone

I really like people. Not individuals, though. I mean, yes, I do like individuals, but what I'm trying to say is that I like humans in general. Okay, so I already told you guys about my shoe thing. Well, the other day, I was reading an article about how a bear was spotted on Princeton's campus. The author then proceeded to tell me what to do in case I encounter a random bear. One of the tips was to avoid eye-contact, which makes sense: I, too, like to avoid threatening 450-pound black bears. Anyway, so it really got me thinking. Eye-contact is truly such a curious thing. The other day, I went out for a walk, and I saw my neighbor's dog up ahead. It was just staring at me with its tiny, little eyes. So to avoid the barking madness that I knew was about to come up, I just refrained from looking at it in the eyes. Problem solved!

But, my friends, humans are not dogs.

Eye contact, in my opinion, is one of the strongest forms of non-verbal communication. Your average, everyday person will maintain eye contact with you while engaged in a conversation. However, if you know me at all, I am often not surrounded by normal people. Sometimes, people look too hard into my eyes. It feels as though they're trying to scan me for my deepest, darkest secrets (luckily for me, I don't think I have any.) And then we have the polar opposite; people who will not look into eyes. Like seriously, is there something wrong with me? We're having a pretty good conversation, why are you sitting like that? Do I intimidate you? Are you so madly in love with me that you can't look me in the eyes? Or does the dark chocolate-y nature of my iris scare you? (If it does, I don't care much for chocolate, either.) Gah, just when you think you're starting to understand people....