Thanks to the admin at inpassing.org (a very funny site you should visit every day) for reminding me to blog this one. Tonight I'm going to relate a game I occasionally play in restaurants.

It goes like this: I'll be having lunch or dinner with a friend, and for some reason or another, either by the nature of the subject matter we're discussing, or because I get the sense that someone at another table is paying more attention to our conversation than their own, I will, keeping the same conversational tone of voice, speculate to my dining partner:

"I wonder if anyone is listening to our conversation right now. I'd bet that someone else here is enjoying hearing us talking about (insert topic here). I think, if they were, it would be really cool if they did something innocuous like take a sip from their drink right now, so they could let us know that they're enjoying the conversation."

The trick is to say this in exactly the same cadence and conversational tone you've been keeping the whole time, so you don't attract any more attention than you were with your previous conversation.

If you want to get really fancy with it, you can create a 'backchannel choose-your-own-adventure' scenario, saying things like, "If that person wanted to hear us talk more about (blah blah), they could pick up the saltshaker. Or, if they're more interested in (other blah) they could clear their throat."

I haven't gone to that level yet, but I've only played this game three or four times, and only once did I actually get a clear response, even though another time it was completely obvious that two fellow diners were hanging on our every word. Somehow I think this game would work better when played by two or more women.

If anyone should give it a try, by all means send me a report on how it goes!