Working on being a Gray Man

I think these guys missed spooky class. The pic is the first thing I thought of when you brought up the "tells"

 

My eyes are on swivels and so are my ears. My head, not so much. Practice hearing when you are out and about with your eyes closed. You can get good enough to almost see with your ears, and it's easy to identify individual people by the rhythm and sounds their shoes make as they walk. You can even tell the relative sizes of rooms and hallways. Very useful skills in the dark, but I track people behind me by their sounds all the time regardless of day or night.

 

Hearing loss is lousy and 70% is awful. I don't listen to speech (have issues there as well) but many of the key noises are lower frequencies, since you are listening to the ambiance and footsteps, so with practice you may be able to sense more than you realize.

My real point was about using more than one passive sense to detect what is happening, even the sense of smell can be useful. We tend to be so visually oriented that sometimes we forget or ignore everything but sight unless it's to the extreme.

 

I have constant ringing in my ears ,, so that diminishes my hearing some ,, and also i sometimes need to see a person's lips to understand what they're saying. But that's more for a person that speaks in a certain tone ,, some people wearing these masks I can understand them no problem,, others get aggravated when I tell them to take off the mask .
But I use all senses when out in public. I never stare at anyone , I glance around as unnoticeable as possible at everyone , scanning for the potential threats ,, and use whatever hearing I have to listen in my blindspots without being noticeable.

 

Bank robberies are for kids and junkies. Average bank teller has less that 3k in their drawer at any one time and statistically you are very likely to get shot and killed commiting a robbery. ID theft and cycber crime is the way to go. No masks required ever.

Godspeed.

 

Kind of wondered how people who rely on lip reading are communicating these days. It has to be very frustrating.

Godspeed.

 

The guy that acts the most paranoid get's the most attention.
I go places people know me and strive to be friendly with every one I meet. I don't worry about being grey, my hair is gray already.
I don't need to appear threatening, I'm not afraid of any one.
If something seems to be brewing I ready my phone, the worse it might appear the more precautions I make to act.
Most of the time there is nothing to worry about, but it pays to be prepared.
I watch people that hide their face, mask or not, and memorize their clothing and features . if you are expected to know what/who is in the room it becomes natural without staring. I do writing in coffee shops and sometimes I stare out the window to concentrate, at the same time I exercise my peripheral vision canvassing the room directly and reflectively via the window like a mirror.
I don't frequent places trouble is likely so I rarely see any.

 

"I don't frequent places trouble is likely so I rarely see any."

Unfortunately these days my friend trouble is showing up in a lot of places it never would have dared rear it's ugly head before

Godspeed.

 

I use this

If I'm going someplace less than secure - like Wallamrt.

I never have had anyone give it a second thought or look. Lots of cyclists here.

I normally work on a 'homeless' vibe - three days of no shaving, worn surplus boots, well worn Charhart jacket, two wool beanies and so on. I know its working when people cross the street to avoid walking by me when sitting out in front the local Big Box store waiting for the DW.

She, happily, thinks that 'mode' it is funny.

 

Or a Govt model 45