The softly softly murmurers
2024-04-10 09:18:00 +07:00 by Mark Smith
I've written before about the softly softly murmurers but without much description.
They set themselves up nearby where you are sitting in a cafe. They are always women, most often small and petite in stature. Usually it's a place that is quiet. You are probably focussed and getting things done. They operate in pairs. One positions themself in such a way that their face is hidden by the other person's head. That means they can still see your body's main outline, even though you can't see their mouth or eyes. Then they have an apparrent quiet conversation, but it's not a real conversation. Everything they say is keyed off of your movements. And guess what, it's very distracting once you notice it.
If they notice that you have noticed, you might suddenly hear a 'you learn' emerge from their speaking in tongues style quiet babbling. It's also likely some of them think they are doing you a favour. But some are clearly malicious, trying to slow you down and make it impossible to do whatever work you're doing. It often happens in retaliation for an earlier event, which itself was often manufactured by others, but blamed on you.
Perhaps the worst thing is that it's so pernicious. You are the only person that it will affect, no one else in the room will even be aware that it's happening, so if you say something, you will seem unhinged. Occasionally it unfolds in such a way that it's completely obvious to all, but unfortunately that hapoens rarely.
And you really can't do much about it, except continue as best you can, what you were doing.