> One of the animals raises her head over her enclosure and gazes pensively at me, her widely spaced eyes and odd, rectangular pupils seeking to make contact—and perhaps even connection.
One time I did scuba, and I'm swimming in the water. There were fish, I have no idea what kind of fish, kinda small, maybe they size of an open hand. One fish swam in front of me, facing me, and stopped. It just chilled there. You can't speak under water, and even if you could you can't communicate with a fish. But there was some kind of connection we were making. I realized at that moment, in that moment, we were both experiencing something, and we were both inquisitive of each other. Me, a foreigner to the water, a tourist, and the fish, a local, wondering about this one biped that looks kinda funny.
After a few minutes I guess it decided that the "conversation" had come to a natural ending and swam away. Out of the many fish that were near me that day, that was the one to stop and say hi.
There are many tourists in this world. I have gone abroad and witnessed the tourists expecting something from the locals. I also see a lot of tourist and noticed they look at me, a local, like I'm a (non-human) animal. Over the years I like to think back to that specific individual fish, and realize that our differences aren't so great, and humans are the tourists that expect something from them, entire industries that capture a number of them every year that's so large many of us can't even comprehend.
I have a few stories similar to this fish with other animals, and because of that the above quote resonates with me. I hope more articles come out which are not about just "sciency things" void of the humans and non-human condition, but the self actualization and realization of the individual that we're not alone.
> I also see a lot of tourist and noticed they look at me, a local, like I'm a (non-human) animal.
How exactly is that expressed? I often gawk at things and people on the streets when I'm traveling (and at home), but not out of disrespect, the exact opposite - awe, interest, desire to spot the details. Such as seeing a local in cool clothes and trying to figure out if it's from a local brand that I could buy from. Does that come off as treating people like animals? How can one get better about not doing that?
Sometimes I like to wave at people. On tour buses they will almost never wave back, off tour buses they will sometimes. In the latter case I'm not really making a judgement, but in the former case it feels like a safari kind of thing.
Of course it's a subjective feeling I have, but I think this is different than people watching which I suspect you're referring to.
In the your comment I've started asking people about their cool/interesting clothes. Some people are receptive others aren't. This is an aside from what I was saying but just want to mention I've started having fun and interesting conversations that way.
One time I did scuba, and I'm swimming in the water. There were fish, I have no idea what kind of fish, kinda small, maybe they size of an open hand. One fish swam in front of me, facing me, and stopped. It just chilled there. You can't speak under water, and even if you could you can't communicate with a fish. But there was some kind of connection we were making. I realized at that moment, in that moment, we were both experiencing something, and we were both inquisitive of each other. Me, a foreigner to the water, a tourist, and the fish, a local, wondering about this one biped that looks kinda funny.
After a few minutes I guess it decided that the "conversation" had come to a natural ending and swam away. Out of the many fish that were near me that day, that was the one to stop and say hi.
There are many tourists in this world. I have gone abroad and witnessed the tourists expecting something from the locals. I also see a lot of tourist and noticed they look at me, a local, like I'm a (non-human) animal. Over the years I like to think back to that specific individual fish, and realize that our differences aren't so great, and humans are the tourists that expect something from them, entire industries that capture a number of them every year that's so large many of us can't even comprehend.
I have a few stories similar to this fish with other animals, and because of that the above quote resonates with me. I hope more articles come out which are not about just "sciency things" void of the humans and non-human condition, but the self actualization and realization of the individual that we're not alone.