It's great because he's in a public space but he can['t be 100% who's there and who's looking at him. the fact that people could be observing things about him - how flushed he is or his facial expressions or how his eyes roll back in his head when someone touches him just so - wouldn't occur to him right away because that's not something's that's relevant to his daily experience.

(also there's just something about watching someone who's usually so cool and collected completely fall apart)