Leave it on the back burner, take it to the drive town, here we go

Sunday, September 03, 2006


Leave it on the back burner, take it to the drive town, here we go.
Current mood: content

Alright, here we go.....



First off, I don't 'blog.' It has never been my thing. Why should I blog? Well, I do like to write, and I think about writing a lot. I like to watch people. I watch them eat, strangers, friends, people on the bus, folks in coffee houses, and the minor ticks people seem to have that identify their personality more than their words and actions could ever justify.



I don't mean to say that I judge those around me by their clothing or anything as juvinile as that. No, I only judge people by how they treat others, and mostly how they treat the others around me. I think that character judgement is wrong until you see how a person interacts with those around them. I want to see how you treat a waitress, or a mailman. I want to see how you respect them as a person, deeper than the title on their shirt. That tells me how you think of yourself, or what insecurities you have.



But the way you read a paper, or act when you think no one else is looking, that is how you interact with yourself. That is more the real you. That veil over your body that explains your mood, your mindset, and your current personal topic of conversation with yourself. The man on the bus who zones into the space directly in front of the window without registering what is racing past the glass. A blank expression of a long day, a bad arguement, a sad memory, or just perhaps wondering what to reheat in the fridge for dinner that night. That is a better introduction than any, 'Hello, my name is..." than I have ever heard.



Your silent actions speak volumes about your priorities. Being impatient in line seems to say that you are impatient about more than just how fast the register moves. If you cannot take that extra few minutes to identify with those around you, what is so important in your immediate future?



I remember a friend of mine and I were walking to a bus stop about four years ago, and I saw her bus pulling up to the stop and I told her she had better run and catch it. "Why?" was her only response.

"Because you are going to miss it."

"There will always be another bus."

"But that won't happen for another twenty minutes"

"So, that leaves me twenty more minutes to talk to you, or see what happens before the next bus comes. Sure, i would get home 20 minutes faster if I ran to catch that bus right now, but then I wouold be flustered, and my bag might fall open, and I would not be able to say good bye to you in the way I should."

Last Spring she and I were again walking to another bus stop and she yelled an excamation as she saw her bus pulling away. I asked her what had happened to the girl I used to know who had been so lax in schedules and clocks. She kinda frowned, and then we went to coffee instead. She was an hour late to work and no one even noticed.

Currently listening :
Silent Steeples
By Dispatch
Release date: 09 November, 2004