Urban Psychology

Urban Psychology

Have you ever wondered what a person is thinking,when they sub-conciOUsly move their brow when talking? Or twist and contort their facial features when describing an event or experience?

If you you are as of the same opinion as myself and you do take part in any of the above then is it possible that this behaviour is in facta basic human instinct and only the quick witted are successful at gaining an advantage or avoiding a not to obvious pitfall?

Avoiding Confrontation

For example where i come from, on a saturday night out socialising at the local public bar with a couple of friends, i was introduced by a friend to a tall heavily built man whose rugged appearance belied his freindliness,he insisted on buying a round of drinks for myself and the three other members in our group and i returned his friendliness soon after with the same generosity and we all carried on talking about the price of fuel,interest rates,sport,etc,etc.

The conversation then turned more mellow and jovial when the mother-in law jokes commenced and unwittingly the beginning of what turned out to be a very nasty incident, out of the blue the tall man began to tell a joke and my friend interrupted”i heard it” he said, immediately he began a new one to which my other friend said”i heard it” at this point i became slightly uneasy because the tall man furrowed his brow slightly,turned to me and began a new joke and instantly i realised that i had heard it before but because of the slight change i had witnessed in the tall mans face when he was stopped short previously by my friends i automatically urged him to carry on with the joke,he smiled and carried on.

The joke was of a very racist nature and i simultaneously deciphered

that this guy had a very sinister nature about him and that when the joke finished i’m going to need to laugh as a kind of appeasement and avoid the inevitable confrontation with this guy if i did the opposite to what he expected of myself and my friends to do,when the finish came i burst out laughing, (my best false laugh) and my first friend said ”yeah,i heard that one too”, tall mans face turned into that of a devil and he leaned back and headbutted him so hard that he smashed my friends nose and knocked two teeth out,he was probably out cold before he hit the ground,tall man then shouted loudly ”do you think i’m some sort of dickhead”? before making a hasty retreat from the pub never to be seen again.

Was this lucky escape based on coincidence on my part? by using my basic human instinct and awareness was i able to quickly assess the possibility of being caught up in an unsavory incident? And my friends inability to read the signs and react accordingly cost him dearly?

The lessons are always there to be learned,being able to read a danger sign in another persons features can keep you one sentence ahead so to speak. The same applies in all aspects of human interaction including the one described above. In my next chapter i will provide another example with an experience on “GAINING.”