Never lose sight of your surroundings.
I confess. That’s me: an overzealous observer. My fam says to a fault. You know, the type more aware of others around them than the people they’re with? Ouch!
It’s rude. I know. But I mean no harm.
Earth to Kelley. Earth. To. Kelley. That’s the hubs when he notices my attention has drifted off to another table during dinner. Where’d you go? he asks with a grin.
My excuse? Unadulterated curiosity. Of people. Often entertaining, sometimes disgusting, but always intriguing.
To me, anyway.
Pro Tip: Airports are one of the best places for people-watching.
It started at the airport ions ago. So many travelers. So many expressions. Mannerisms. Engulfed by the flurry of activity around me I forgot my flight-delayed frustrations.
Recently, it was a gaggle of police officers surrounding a sedan. The look of panic splayed across the face of a woman clutching a cell phone to her ear. A jimmy stick in the hand of one uniform intently working to free the lock of the driver’s side door. The scene disappears in my rearview by the time I realize a child is locked inside. In this heat? Dear God, keep them safe.
In another instance, a car pulls INTO — as in against traffic — the lane of oncoming traffic to avoid a wait in traffic. Horns blare. Gestures fly. The frantic expression of the front passenger juxtaposed against the sheer joy on the face of the driver is shocking. What in the world would possess him to choose that option?
The blood-curdling shrill of an anorexic young female screaming into the black of the wee hours of the morning as the neighborhood sleeps. Let’s go before the cops get here. A dog barks. Another ear-piercing scream. Several doors slam. The hubs dials 9-1-1.
Pro Tip: Write down your observations. You never know when they may come in handy.
My imagination rarely sleeps. I etch a mental note to add the observation into my Ideas for Future Stories file, then stop to envision the raw skeleton of a new character in the uncanny position. Force them to act, and act they do. But not always in the ways expected.
~Hannah Ellen
Are you an observer of the overzealous type? Or do you go on your peaceful way unaware of the happenings around you?
I can’t help but stop to ponder a situation, and ask what could possibly have been going on in his world to prompt him to do that?
Please tell me I’m not the only one!
Stay tuned, my friends, for more musings of an overzealous observer.
