people watching...

People watching… it has come to fascinate me… to look at their total appearance and how they react to their surroundings. I also find it interesting to see people’s different facial expressions and how sometimes you can read their faces while with others you never know what they might be thinking. You get to see people from different races (Latinos, Asians, African Americans, Europeans, East Indians, etc.). People wearing different outfits from business suits, fur coats, work uniforms, regular clothes (different styles and fashions) to dirty rags.

In the beginning, I used to hate riding the train. I would feel very uncomfortable.
If you would find a seat that was not by the window, there is really no other place to look around but what is in front of you. I didn’t know what to do. And it was embarrassing to me knowing that people might think I was staring at them. Or to find someone staring at you, it’s kind of weird and creepy. So I kept trying to look around… here and there… avoiding eye contact.

And depending on the time you catch your train, if you caught the morning rush or the afternoon rush, it would be crowded which made it difficult to look around. So I would stare at my feet instead. Oh, and not to mention the body odor or bad breath! There are times when man…oh man…I thought I would puke! Not to mention when some of our homeless ride the train. P.U!

I soon began reading books on the train to keep me entertained. But then, I would get so engrossed in my book that I would miss my stop. I often wondered how people who fall asleep on the train would automatically wake up at their stop. I couldn’t see how that was possible. Sometimes you find people taking two seats because they actually put their feet up and fall asleep. Others would sit by the window and rest their heads on it. And yet, others just close their eyes and can stay asleep sitting up, while others keep bobbing their head trying to keep it up. Other people fall asleep with their mouths wide open and sometimes even drool. And believe me we even have some folks who snore and LOUD!!!

While I wait for my train to arrive, we have several street performers. Some guys are pretty good. They have great voices but would probably never make it in American Idol… too bad! Others play different musical instruments and they too are good. There’s even a guy who draws sketches of people. When he sees me he tries to encourage me to have my sketch done but I never carry any cash on me. Maybe one of these days, I’ll get the nerve to stand there and have him draw a sketch of me (embarrassing as it may be…as people stand to watch you and him while he’s sketching!)

One of the street performers (who happens to be a blind Hispanic) was singing Spanish music. There are times when he sounds pretty darn good. In fact, not only does he get a few dollars and change but also he’s had several people tapping their feet to the beat of his music. Yesterday, another Hispanic guy who was listening to our guy sing was also singing along and out loud in tune to the music (he was signing and snapping his fingers!) And today, there was a guy (African American) who was listening to our guy sing and began moving and dancing to the rhythm of the song without having a care in the world about what people thought of him. I truly admire that.

Over time, I've seen many different people come and go. And during that time, I have made a few friends. And yet I ride the train with the same people every day and we may never come to meet.

But there’s no doubt that people watching can be fun and quite interesting.