Wednesday, August 30, 2006

Watching people

Today, I was a bit strange. Ok, hold the comments! I was walking from work to the station, and I heard a sort of shouty whining very nearby. It turned out to be a teenage girl arguing with her mother. I then had a choice of whether to walk one way or the other, and I chose to follow the arguing people because I wanted to see what happened. The daughter refused to walk any further, walked away from her mum and plonked herself down on a bench. Mother kept on walking. I was a bit disturbed by my choice, as it does suggest that I am (a) nosey and (b) just a bit weird. Or maybe I'm just interested in people and the way they behave. I think, though, that this is just an excuse for me being nosey. Oh well.

I did worry about the girl and how she was going to get home, and how far away from home she might be, and whether the mother was worried or whether she was so angry she wasn't thinking and how far was she going to get before she stopped or turned to go back to her daughter. I did follow the mother for a bit, but then I was too early for the train (I'd left early to get the earlier train but by the time I actually got out of work I'd lost some time, then I was rushing, then I was tired, so I ended up mooching around Next and Boots to kill some time. I dread to think how many hours of my life I've wasted killing time while 'waiting' for trains) so I branched off and went on a very slightly longer route to the station.

I do like watching people. I use to get told off for staring a lot when I was younger. I probably still do it now. I must perfect my librarian stare, though.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hello Lilian,
I ran across you at Reed's place (also known as Agapanthus) and came over here to visit. I also enjoy watching people and nosily listen to other's conversations. I have been known to turn around in the theatre or concert hall and say, "Pardon me, I couldn't help overhearing your conversation. Beethoven went deaf when he was..." Sometimes I get a real what I call funky chicken look, other times I end up in an interesting chat.

I have taken the liberty of adding you to my blogroll so other people might be coming by here too.

Lilian said...

Thanks for your comment. It's always nice to have new visitors. Glad I'm not the only one who does this! I've also visited your blog a couple of times, also via Reed's blog. Would it be ok to add you to my blogroll in return?