On the Poetry of Data

Point out a cute observation about an individual in a store, and immediately the data miner wants to rearrange the store to optimize revenue, or the researcher wants to tap into the privacy angst. What happened to the subtle reliance on observational data to nudge a detective story, or for poetry?

Anyway, I was in CB2, a furnishing and home accessories store, and watched:

• A young man with a shopping basket. In it were 2 wine glasses and 1 candle. A single man planning his evening, with the leisure of being far past the first date.
  
• The woman measures the shelves, consults her notes, clucks that it might not fit. Her partner grabs books from the staged display, opens them to only find they are fake, but he keeps reaching for more. Definitely a researcher lost in CB2, far from his printed matter.
  
• A man in chinos sits on an outdoors chair, leans back and stretches his legs. It is spring, the financier has his bonus and wants to update his roofdeck for summer parties.