Crystal Clear, Razor Sharp

In the fish tank of life, I’m the one tapping on the glass

Today I went to the library to study, I need to get this chapter down by Friday for biology, and I accomplished quite a bit. Unfortunately, none of what I accomplished had to do with my homework. I slipped again into a “people watching” session. Don’t wrinkle your eyebrows at me, lots of people do it, and I love it.

As suggested by the name, I just sit there and watch people. I make up stories about their lives based on what they are doing and how they interact with other people. Sometimes my stories are just ridiculous things, all made-up and fantastical nonsense. Other times I really try to understand who the person is and what it’s like to be them.

For example, there was this boy. Shaggy hair, shoulders slumped, pouring over a calculus book. He didn’t wear glasses, but he squinted a bit. He was there before me and still hadn’t moved when I left. He didn’t wear any headphones.

My theory? He’s the oldest child in a middle-income family. His parents could help him pay for school if there was an emergency, but he has a scholarship he wants to keep so as not to be a burden. They live in another state, and he doesn’t have a car. He’s studying to be an in-house accountant for a big corporation. He doesn’t think his family is poor, but he never wants to worry about money, and so he studies.

There was also a couple there, sitting a table to the left of the studious student. They tried to study, but the girlfriend would sigh or touch his hand or rub her sandaled feet along his calf every time he seemed to be concentrating. He didn’t seem to mind very much. He was tall and lean, but not skinny, and she was a blond little stick figure with a cute nose. My theory? They just started dating, and before that the blond had been interested in study-boy. She got upset when he wanted to study all the time, and he told her he didn’t want to date anymore. The blond is interested in the new boy, but she hasn’t been so affectionate with him before. Little does he know, she is just trying to make study-boy jealous.

See what I mean? Nothing done on my homework, unless you count people watching as an observation of organisms in their natural habitats.