Frustration when you don't get to see

[Alfresco 11,639]

I get very frustrated when I think there is a possibility of a sighting but then it doesn't happen or I don't get to see.  

On Friday I needed to pick my wife up at 8:30pm.   I thought I'd chance my arm and hang around a park for about 45 minutes before I picked her up.   I got there and scoped out who was about.   Not really very many people that would fit into the likely candidate category, but one group caught my eye.   Right in the middle of the field were three guys and a lady sat facing each other and drinking beer from cans.   I thought that they would be bound to need to pee at some stage and I hoped that would be in the next 45 minutes. 

I kept an eye on them whilst I wandered around the park and I noted that the girl kept rocking back and forth a bit and changing her leg positions.  After about 20 mins, one of the guys got up, walked directly to a gap in the hedge about 30 metres away and went through the gap.  I went out through a different gap and saw that he was casually stood facing the hedge and peeing.    By being that side of the hedge, he was outside of the park and out of the view of people in the park, but he was now on a grassed area at the end of a quiet residential street.   I was considering whether the girl might do the same or whether that would be too public for her as there was no cover there whatsoever.

I went back into the park and sat looking at my phone whilst keeping an eye on the group.   After about another 15 mins, the girl was getting more fidgety and I thought she must be getting desperate.  One of the other guys stood up and looked like he was in a debate with her.   He pointed over towards the toilet block at the other side of the park which was locked (they shut about 5pm, which is ludicrously early, but I'm not one to complain).  She was shaking her head, presumably because she knew they were closed and that again there was no cover there other than to pee in the doorway, which is fully open to the road.   In the end, he walked off and went to the same place as the first guy, leaving her to rock about and get more desperate.

By now, it was nearly 8:20 and I had to leave by 8:25 to get my wife.  I started walking back towards the other side of the park where the car was parked, but kept an eye out, because if she got up, I would have delayed my departure and made up an excuse, however, she never moved and I left the park feeling very disappointed and frustrated.   I'm almost convinced that she must have had to go and pee within the next half hour - either in the park or by going home, but I didn't get to see it.

How do other people feel when that kind of thing happens?   It is part and parcel of the joys of enjoying sightings and I know that the probabilities are often against sightings, but is is still frustrating.  The only upside is it makes the successful sightings even more special.

[Wolf88 32]

Better luck next time. It is easier to spot something if they are many people.  But don´t hang around for too long.

[gldenwetgoose 21,500]

I’m one of those who may occasionally catch a glimpse of a potential sighting but generally isn’t around for long enough - so your experience is more the norm for me.

I guess some you win and others you lose. And a fine balancing act between what is a reasonable time to sit killing time in the fresh air against the risk of them, or someone else thinking it’s a bit odd for a bloke to be hanging about.  It’s not like you were following them around or there for hours though. 

[Alfresco 11,639]

16 hours ago, Wolf88 said:

Better luck next time. It is easier to spot something if they are many people.  But don´t hang around for too long.

Definitely agree with this and I've had plenty of experience of sightings when there are lots of people.   Unfortunately I have very limited opportunities to go out looking at the moment and that's why it is more frustrating when I do have a small window of opportunity and see that something is likely to happen, but I don't catch it.   I'd love to be able to head to a popular area for a Friday or Saturday night but just isn't feasible at the moment for me.   

15 hours ago, gldenwetgoose said:

I’m one of those who may occasionally catch a glimpse of a potential sighting but generally isn’t around for long enough - so your experience is more the norm for me.

I guess some you win and others you lose. And a fine balancing act between what is a reasonable time to sit killing time in the fresh air against the risk of them, or someone else thinking it’s a bit odd for a bloke to be hanging about.  It’s not like you were following them around or there for hours though. 

Yes, I'm very much in the same boat as you at the moment whilst I'm not getting any chances to get out.    I am just catching short visits to parks and things when I can and this is generally not sufficient to yield results, especially as I live in a relatively small town with no sizeable gatherings away from toilets and no nightlife of note.   

I wouldn't worry too much about being a guy on your own hanging around in a park.   Take a book, sit on a bench, read your book and keep your wits about you.   What would become an issue would be if you were in a park and there was a natural pee spot where multiple people go.  The first time you choose to go there to pee and it happens to be just after a lady goes in there, you can explain away apologetically with no issues, but if you happen to head for that same bush every time a lady does, then that is going to attract unwanted attention.   That is where the advice of @Wolf88 saying don't hang around too long comes into play.  However, there is no issue at all in sitting reading for a couple of hours if that's what you choose to do.

If you are thinking more about being a guy hanging around a city nightclub scene, then yes, that is a much more difficult one.   Chances are that most people are not going to take any notice of you at all but if you stand right opposite a nightclub queue for hours on end, then that is going to look dodgy.  I tend not to stay in one place very long, I stay mobile and walk a lot!   If I do sit in one place, one option is to sit on a bench in a bus shelter where I can see either a nightclub queue or the entrance to an alley that looks like a likely pee spot or in one town there is a park just near where the students get dropped off by buses coming into town.   I sometimes sit on a bench in that park and wait for the girls to get off the bus and run into the park to pee.  Nobody else is ever in that park for very long after dark, so nobody realises that I've been there a while.  I still tend to limit it to half an hour, just in case.