Katie The Creep

I have always been weirdly interested in watching people...I don't really know why I find it so interesting. Lately though, I've become OBSESSED with this.

Other than the time I spend locked up anti-socially in my room, all I am ever doing is watching people. And not like the 'Oh, that dress looks cute on her' or 'That kid has a weird walk'....but the full out sitting and watching a person for as long as I possibly can. I don't know what my problem is---but I'm much too aware that I'm a full-out creep. I'll find myself pretending to look at the clock at the back of the room in order to get a glimpse of what the girl that is sitting behind me is doing or seeing how long I can watch a person before we make awkward eye-contact one too many times.

Recently, I've started a new hobby of keeping count of how many times a certain person does something. For example, how many times will the person behind me cough or how many times will that boy click his pen throughout the class period. Usually, I just keep count in my head since Luke is in most of my classes and he is not aware of this habit, but when I'm alone I keep track of these kind of things on paper. I don't know if this hobby is just a result of me getting bored very easily, but I'm not fully comfortable with it. I'm so aware that I'm a creep, that I'm even creeping myself out. It's not normal.

I was reminded of this a few days ago when I was casually making conversation with the girl who works the morning shift when I came in to relieve her. I brought up the fact that there is a boy who walks past the office at least 6 times every time I work and asked if she had seen him. She responded by saying she had never noticed him but had noticed the sticky note that read "Running count of how many times the kid with the glasses walks by" with 54 tally marks under it. She then continued to look at me like I had a serious problem and promptly leaving the office.

My obsession with watching people isn't limited to a certain type of person either. I'm obsessed with observing girls, boys, blonds, brunettes, skinny, overweight, dark-skinned, light-skinned, pretty, ugly, good-smelling, bad-smelling, cheerful, depressed, annoying, chill....well you get the idea. EVERYONE. It's like the crush you had in middle school where you wanted to know what that person was doing whenever possible....except it extends to everyone I interact with. I constantly find myself thinking 'I wonder what that kid with the dreadlocks is doing this weekend' or 'I wonder how that girl in Operations would handle a certain situation.' It's not that I find any certain person more interesting than another person, I have these thoughts about almost everybody that I interact with. It's seriously the weirdest thing ever. I try not to think about it, but it's like an extremely annoying song that you have stuck in your head...or an eye-twitch that just won't go away.

Even as I'm writing this blog I've been staring at the employee at the Pizza Hut across the parking lot that is taking a smoking break. He has rubbed his nose six times, has kicked the side of the building with the toe of his shoe twelve times and has walked in six and a half circles...now seven.

My name is Katie Couch and I am addicted to being a creep.