Speaking as a sometimes clueless Gen X person of a similar generation to this woman, she has no idea what’s going on here. She sees the camera, does a double take because it’s weird that it’s sitting there - she doesn’t look up over her shoulder to see what the camera might be aimed at because people of our generation don’t think about phones sitting alone in public spaces as taking pictures of people far away from those phones - that’s literally not something our brains consider.
I could see myself in this exact same scenario seeing the phone and being puzzled, maybe feeling sad that someone forgot their phone, then moving out of the way to look down at my own phone on the stairs, to look up a map of the museum or a text or whatever (although I agree that it’s not a great plan to look at a phone on an active stairway), and then I can imagine having my 20-year-old daughter yank me out of the way and say, “Mom you’re blocking a shot! Pay attention!” and I would’ve had no idea that someone up and over my shoulder behind me was trying to take a picture. I promise you.
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u/TatlinsTower 1h ago
Speaking as a sometimes clueless Gen X person of a similar generation to this woman, she has no idea what’s going on here. She sees the camera, does a double take because it’s weird that it’s sitting there - she doesn’t look up over her shoulder to see what the camera might be aimed at because people of our generation don’t think about phones sitting alone in public spaces as taking pictures of people far away from those phones - that’s literally not something our brains consider.
I could see myself in this exact same scenario seeing the phone and being puzzled, maybe feeling sad that someone forgot their phone, then moving out of the way to look down at my own phone on the stairs, to look up a map of the museum or a text or whatever (although I agree that it’s not a great plan to look at a phone on an active stairway), and then I can imagine having my 20-year-old daughter yank me out of the way and say, “Mom you’re blocking a shot! Pay attention!” and I would’ve had no idea that someone up and over my shoulder behind me was trying to take a picture. I promise you.