People watching
31/10/15 05:09
Yesterday afternoon I had an errand to run downtown that I wanted to take care of before the end of the week. I also was leading devotions at the mission at supper time. So I decided to make one trip out of the excursion with two stops. My errand took less time thanI expected, and I had about 45 extra minutes - too short to accomplish any meaningful work back at the office. So I just went to the mission and visited with people with the extra time. Here are some random observations from my afternoon.
Random observation number one: There are a lot of adults who are way more into Halloween than I am. Actually I noticed this earlier when I went to a routine doctor’s appointment last week and found that the doctor’s office was all decorated for Halloween. Mind you Halloween isn’t one of the big holidays in my life, but I do enjoy watching the preschoolers arrive in their costumes. I guess I just think of it as a holiday for children. Anyway, a professional office isn’t where I expected to find a lot of effort and money invested in decorations. Yesterday my business took me to the new county administration building where I found employees dressed in costume. It seemed rather strange to be conducting business with a woman dressed up as a Roman centurion. Actually, I wondered if she had borrowed the costume from her church’s supply of costumes for Christmas or Lenten pageants. I wanted to ask her, but refrained. If not, perhaps she could donate it to her church after the holiday.
Random observation number two: Everyone seems to have a smartphone. I have a smartphone, but I keep it in its case most of the time. I prefer the computer for checking e-mail and I will often allow a call to go to voicemail if I am visiting with someone when it comes in. I don’t need to be checking the Internet for many things during a normal conversation. Waiting for a few minutes for the next clerk at the county office, I observed that people were whipping out their phones as soon as there was a moment of calm. The county provides benches to sit on and I was grateful for a moment of quiet to just sit and think. I was the only one on the bench who wasn’t using my phone. That didn’t surprise me, but I was more surprised as I sat in the mission dining room how many people were doing the same thing. Just a few years ago when Hope Center was opened, one of the things that was needed for homeless people in our community was a place where they could receive phone calls. Job seekers need to give their phone numbers and have a reliable place to receive a phone message. It seemed that most of the people at the mission last night had cell phones. I saw several people take out their phones to take a picture of the meal schedule at the mission, where mealtimes are different on Saturday and Sunday from other days of the week. I saw people sending and receiving messages.
Random observation number three: People don’t really talk on their phones that much. In all of the smartphone activity in the two places, I only saw one person who was actually talking on their phone. All of the other phone activity involved taking pictures, sending text messages, exchanging e-mails and the like. I can usually tell when someone is taking a picture with their phone, but can’t really tell what they are doing when they are holding it in their hand, touching icons on the screen.
Random observation number four: There are a lot of people who become uncomfortable with normal everyday conversation. Sitting on the bench at the county office and sitting in the dining room at the mission, I discovered that there were several people who didn’t respond to a simple “Good afternoon!” greeting. Some would say, “Hi” and immediately return to whatever it was they were doing. Having an actual conversation seemed to be a challenge. I realize that I am a stranger, but I don’t think I appear all that threatening. Still there was a tendency of people to put some space between themselves and me. I guess they just didn’t want to talk.
I am not a person who gets lonely. My life is filled with people and lots of interesting conversation. There are many people in my life with whom I’d like to have more time for visiting. When I have some extra time, I enjoy talking on the phone with our children or Skyping with our grandchildren. A few moments of quiet are always a gift. I don’t mind waiting at the doctor’s office or the county building. I just sit and think of what is going on in my life. Sometimes a gift of a few moments is a time to simply be grateful for the goodness of this life. A few minutes to sort out my thoughts is appreciated. I can, however, see why loneliness is a problem for some people. We are together in the same building, but we are not in relationship with each other. We spend a lot of time occupying space in close proximity, but not talking. Even a busy room can be a lonely place if you are a stranger.
And that brings me to random observation number five: People are much more alike than they are different. The county office very closely resembles the mission. The person out front trying to get everyone’s attention was circulating a petition at the county office and the one at the mission was trying to evangelize about his religion, but there were folks in both places trying to speak and folks in both places trying to avoid those who were standing by the door. And inside, with the exception of those dressed in costumes at the county building, the people wore remarkably similar clothes and were doing almost the same activities.
Maybe if they took time to recognize it, they would discover that we’re all in this together and we have plenty enough in common to strike up a conversation in any public building in our town.
Random observation number one: There are a lot of adults who are way more into Halloween than I am. Actually I noticed this earlier when I went to a routine doctor’s appointment last week and found that the doctor’s office was all decorated for Halloween. Mind you Halloween isn’t one of the big holidays in my life, but I do enjoy watching the preschoolers arrive in their costumes. I guess I just think of it as a holiday for children. Anyway, a professional office isn’t where I expected to find a lot of effort and money invested in decorations. Yesterday my business took me to the new county administration building where I found employees dressed in costume. It seemed rather strange to be conducting business with a woman dressed up as a Roman centurion. Actually, I wondered if she had borrowed the costume from her church’s supply of costumes for Christmas or Lenten pageants. I wanted to ask her, but refrained. If not, perhaps she could donate it to her church after the holiday.
Random observation number two: Everyone seems to have a smartphone. I have a smartphone, but I keep it in its case most of the time. I prefer the computer for checking e-mail and I will often allow a call to go to voicemail if I am visiting with someone when it comes in. I don’t need to be checking the Internet for many things during a normal conversation. Waiting for a few minutes for the next clerk at the county office, I observed that people were whipping out their phones as soon as there was a moment of calm. The county provides benches to sit on and I was grateful for a moment of quiet to just sit and think. I was the only one on the bench who wasn’t using my phone. That didn’t surprise me, but I was more surprised as I sat in the mission dining room how many people were doing the same thing. Just a few years ago when Hope Center was opened, one of the things that was needed for homeless people in our community was a place where they could receive phone calls. Job seekers need to give their phone numbers and have a reliable place to receive a phone message. It seemed that most of the people at the mission last night had cell phones. I saw several people take out their phones to take a picture of the meal schedule at the mission, where mealtimes are different on Saturday and Sunday from other days of the week. I saw people sending and receiving messages.
Random observation number three: People don’t really talk on their phones that much. In all of the smartphone activity in the two places, I only saw one person who was actually talking on their phone. All of the other phone activity involved taking pictures, sending text messages, exchanging e-mails and the like. I can usually tell when someone is taking a picture with their phone, but can’t really tell what they are doing when they are holding it in their hand, touching icons on the screen.
Random observation number four: There are a lot of people who become uncomfortable with normal everyday conversation. Sitting on the bench at the county office and sitting in the dining room at the mission, I discovered that there were several people who didn’t respond to a simple “Good afternoon!” greeting. Some would say, “Hi” and immediately return to whatever it was they were doing. Having an actual conversation seemed to be a challenge. I realize that I am a stranger, but I don’t think I appear all that threatening. Still there was a tendency of people to put some space between themselves and me. I guess they just didn’t want to talk.
I am not a person who gets lonely. My life is filled with people and lots of interesting conversation. There are many people in my life with whom I’d like to have more time for visiting. When I have some extra time, I enjoy talking on the phone with our children or Skyping with our grandchildren. A few moments of quiet are always a gift. I don’t mind waiting at the doctor’s office or the county building. I just sit and think of what is going on in my life. Sometimes a gift of a few moments is a time to simply be grateful for the goodness of this life. A few minutes to sort out my thoughts is appreciated. I can, however, see why loneliness is a problem for some people. We are together in the same building, but we are not in relationship with each other. We spend a lot of time occupying space in close proximity, but not talking. Even a busy room can be a lonely place if you are a stranger.
And that brings me to random observation number five: People are much more alike than they are different. The county office very closely resembles the mission. The person out front trying to get everyone’s attention was circulating a petition at the county office and the one at the mission was trying to evangelize about his religion, but there were folks in both places trying to speak and folks in both places trying to avoid those who were standing by the door. And inside, with the exception of those dressed in costumes at the county building, the people wore remarkably similar clothes and were doing almost the same activities.
Maybe if they took time to recognize it, they would discover that we’re all in this together and we have plenty enough in common to strike up a conversation in any public building in our town.