People

Hello there,

It’s been a while and dad’s done double duty in my absence. Many interesting and wonderful things have happened to me since I last posted. This piece though, is just a small thing.

I walked by a woman the other day on my way to class. She was sitting at a picnic table under one of those giant cloth umbrellas that may or may not be called giant cloth umbrellas, and she was smoking a cigarette and staring reflectively into the distance.

We had actually worked together, back in the days when I was a (somewhat reluctant it must be admitted*) worker in the college's catering business.  Only a couple times however, enough to justify comfortable eye contact and a smile, and at most some pleasant small talk. Today was no exception, I had decided she was too deep in thought to try an initiate contact, but just as I was about to continue on my merry** way she spoke up and said “gorgeous day isn’t it?” To which I made all pleasant and necessary responses until we’d thoroughly discussed the glories of the weather and made our farewells.

Of course it left me wondering what she was really thinking about while she was sitting there. It really could be anything. I remember when a friend of mine asked me what I was thinking because she said I was looking very intense and far away, or something along those lines. I replied, with some enjoyment, that I had been thinking about how much I like bagels.

So what had the smoking lady been thinking about before she decided to appreciate the weather with me? What she had for lunch? Her significant other? Her daughter? Pain in her left foot? The weather? Politics? The question of why anyone would make a smurf movie?

I haven’t the first notion what was going through her head. Or anyone else’s. Many people cause me to run along this thought pattern. Not the ones who obviously have some sort of agenda. Anyone with platinum blond highlights, high-heeled fancy boots, lots of large ugly jewelery, a giant handbag, perfectly straight hair, and  brand name clothing I generally*** am not as interested in. But people who have obviously seen something of life that changed them; parents, bag ladies, bus drivers, in short, anyone who hasn’t had an unusually easy life, intrigues me to an extreme. Sometimes, when I’m not totally wrapped up in my own small and wonderful**** life, I wish I could stop all those people and ask them questions, with no awkwardness or worries about time and social rules, and not just discuss the weather. And don’t even get me started about passengers I see on the bus*****…

*It was the uniforms that really got me, and I spend a significant amount of my time running around in a kilt…

**Approximately, I was probably on the way to documentary class, which I enjoy. I probably wasn’t whistling though, so on a scale of 1 to 10 for merriness I’m going to guess I was around a 4.5.

***I do form some opinions about people based on their clothing, I admit it, and on their bearing. In fact more on bearing I’d say. However I’m perfectly willing to change my opinion about someone if I get to actually know him/her well.

****Well, I think it's wonderful, but then, I'm biased. I'm also using the word "wonderful" a lot lately.

*****Many of them it probably wouldn't be a good idea to talk to. Some telepathy would be useful here, but not too much.