I was late for work before I even walked out of the door today. I'm in no hurry because I really don't feel that it's essential that I'm at work on time. My boss would say the opposite but I'm not trying to make my employer's happy because they're not trying to make me happy. I'm not going to run around my house all frantic just because someone in some corporate type in some way far away office thinks I should be at my desk at 3:00pm sharp instead of sometime around 3:30'ish. The world's not going to come crashing down because I'm not at my desk. No one will die because I'm not checking my e-mail.
I made my way out of my little studio and strolled down to the bus stop. It took about 10 minute for the bus to come and just as it rolled up, a thought occurred to me; I had no change for the bus. It's not a profound thought by all means but this meant that I was going to be really late. Oh well, I just walked up to the store and got some change and a strawberry milk. I normally pull out my book while I'm waiting for the bus but I don't have anything new to read yet so I just people watch. It's better than TV. I love looking for little mannerisms and trying to figure a person out just based on their actions and appearance.
The bus finally showed up and there were actually seats available so I grab one next to an open window. Just after I get on, this sweet little old lady gets on and grabs the seat next to me. She was just so tiny and proper with her spring dress, complete with little tiny faded yellow and blue flowers. She sat there shivering. The window was blowing in a cool breeze. I knew she wasn't going to ask me to close it So I asked. "Would like me to close the window a little, dear?" I don't know why I call elderly women "dear", I think I got it from my grandfather, he used to call my great-grandmother that all the time and it always sounded so respectful. She said that if I could close it just a little that would be wonderful. "I'll leave it open just enough to give us some fresh air." She smiled.
She starts talking to me, she tells me how nice I am because most people wouldn't have done that. She starts telling me about things back in her day, and how different people were back then. I couldn't hear most of what she said at first, so I just watched her face and waited for my cue to react.
You don't really have to listen to someone if you can read there face and their eyes. I could see that what she was trying to tell me about something serious, so I put on my serious face and nodded thoughtfully whenever she stopped talking. It worked, it gave her the illusion that she had my full and undivided attention and she seemed happy to be talking to someone. Her face makes a subtle change and before I realized it her face has gone from serious to sad. There she was talking about something sad that happened when she was a little girl. I'm not even really paying attention, Im just pretending. What an ass I am.
I felt bad that she was trying to share something that was obviously a big part of her life so I leaned in closer so that I could hear her. It was too late to find out what she had said before but the least I could do is listen to the rest of what she had to say. She told me about how teacher in her day were mean and used to hit the kids. She told me about her father and mother that had moved here from the old country. Her father sounded like a real ball-buster, strict but he loved them. In her own words: "My father could have been a very nice man but he didn't want to." She said her mother had always been soft spoken and very pretty. She says that she thinks the reason people don't talk to each other on the bus is because their rude, but I'm a very nice boy so she keeps talking to me. I listen right up to the point that I have to get off the bus. I tell her that I hope she has a wonderful day. She patted me on the shoulder with her teeny tiny white glove and wished me the same.
Then I got to go to work and stare at a monitor for ten hours. I'm pretty sure my day wouldn't have been as nice had I not gotten to talk to her. So I'd like to give a little shout-out to the nice little lady on the bus. Thank you, dear.
I made my way out of my little studio and strolled down to the bus stop. It took about 10 minute for the bus to come and just as it rolled up, a thought occurred to me; I had no change for the bus. It's not a profound thought by all means but this meant that I was going to be really late. Oh well, I just walked up to the store and got some change and a strawberry milk. I normally pull out my book while I'm waiting for the bus but I don't have anything new to read yet so I just people watch. It's better than TV. I love looking for little mannerisms and trying to figure a person out just based on their actions and appearance.
The bus finally showed up and there were actually seats available so I grab one next to an open window. Just after I get on, this sweet little old lady gets on and grabs the seat next to me. She was just so tiny and proper with her spring dress, complete with little tiny faded yellow and blue flowers. She sat there shivering. The window was blowing in a cool breeze. I knew she wasn't going to ask me to close it So I asked. "Would like me to close the window a little, dear?" I don't know why I call elderly women "dear", I think I got it from my grandfather, he used to call my great-grandmother that all the time and it always sounded so respectful. She said that if I could close it just a little that would be wonderful. "I'll leave it open just enough to give us some fresh air." She smiled.
She starts talking to me, she tells me how nice I am because most people wouldn't have done that. She starts telling me about things back in her day, and how different people were back then. I couldn't hear most of what she said at first, so I just watched her face and waited for my cue to react.
You don't really have to listen to someone if you can read there face and their eyes. I could see that what she was trying to tell me about something serious, so I put on my serious face and nodded thoughtfully whenever she stopped talking. It worked, it gave her the illusion that she had my full and undivided attention and she seemed happy to be talking to someone. Her face makes a subtle change and before I realized it her face has gone from serious to sad. There she was talking about something sad that happened when she was a little girl. I'm not even really paying attention, Im just pretending. What an ass I am.
I felt bad that she was trying to share something that was obviously a big part of her life so I leaned in closer so that I could hear her. It was too late to find out what she had said before but the least I could do is listen to the rest of what she had to say. She told me about how teacher in her day were mean and used to hit the kids. She told me about her father and mother that had moved here from the old country. Her father sounded like a real ball-buster, strict but he loved them. In her own words: "My father could have been a very nice man but he didn't want to." She said her mother had always been soft spoken and very pretty. She says that she thinks the reason people don't talk to each other on the bus is because their rude, but I'm a very nice boy so she keeps talking to me. I listen right up to the point that I have to get off the bus. I tell her that I hope she has a wonderful day. She patted me on the shoulder with her teeny tiny white glove and wished me the same.
Then I got to go to work and stare at a monitor for ten hours. I'm pretty sure my day wouldn't have been as nice had I not gotten to talk to her. So I'd like to give a little shout-out to the nice little lady on the bus. Thank you, dear.