Curious Mixing

I'm really surprised. I went to the Pleasanton Tradeshow last night - and the event was half the size of last year's setup! Last year it had booths circling the patio, down the back pathways and even around the pool. This year, the pool and back pathways were empty.

I could presume booth sales were just down, but I kept hearing different opinions on why it was so much smaller. From there being another mixer at the same time, to weird weather (it's supposed to rain anytime), to summer vacations, to quarterly speculations!

Mind you, I'm not disappointed by all this. I met many good people there, and at least a half-dozen new-to-me faces. But what I found interesting was the variety of opinions on a common, unconscious question. Everyone KNEW there were fewer booths, but they each tried to come up with their own reasoning.

Where am I going with this? I'm not sure. But it does demonstrate a curious social phenomenon - universal question, individual explanation. Something I think we'd all benefit from considering more often.