Reminds me of the ladies I see in the fairly big "downtown" area I work in.
2 60-ish women, evidently pioneers, sitting on a bench, holding magazines at arm's length away from them.
No eye contact with passersby, no attempts to start conversations, no effort to "place" the magazines - in fact, they are most often deep in conversation with themselves.
They also occasionally engage in the exact same method on one of the "sky bridges" connecting office buildings. Seated on the ledge, magazines in their laps, staring into space or talking with each other.
I shouldn't make fun, their methods evidently do have some success - I do see the occasional homeless guy shuffling along swatting flies with a rolled up Watchtower.