Is there any simpler joy in this world than People Watching? The eccentricities that make up the human race have baffled us for centuries. Why did Bernard get that particular type of cancer? Why is Hubert so much more intelligent than the rest of his family put together? Why is Pietro autistic when his twin brother Fred is not? Where does Josephine's obsession, passion and faith in Nutella come from?
We're all so incredibly different and yet somehow, in essence, we're the same. It's the complexities in our human nature and our lack of understanding in the great power of the human brain that leads each and every one of us to be fascinating and unique in our own way.
There are times during family dramas where I'm left thinking; how am I related to people that are so opposite to me? That is not necessarily a negative thought, more of an observation. And I doubt it not that they all think the same thing about me from time to time. And then there are those people on twitter who share their views on the world, and I find myself humming the "twilight zone" music because I can't help but feel slightly freaked by the intense similarities I share with someone I have never met before.
We are complex and we are the dogs bullocks, the cats meow, the llamas pyjamas, the shit. We really are pretty awesome and wonderful.
Perhaps this is why I find People Watching so very interesting and entertaining. Each morning I wait at the station for my lift into work from one of my favourite colleagues. Sometimes the wait can be less than a second, other times I sit and people watch for almost half an hour. I find it therapeutic and blissful.
It's at these times, when I am patiently sitting and waiting that I like to people watch the most. I look at their outfits and the way they hold themselves. Whether they stand tall and look straight ahead with an air of Royalty or whether they are more apologetic for their appearance than Death itself. Why is one the very definition of confidence and the other so low? I will never stop wondering.
So I like to give the people I am studying back stories. Mundane everyday scenarios, which always seem to end with the nervous looking heroine running off with the milkman or ticket man (to Paris. Obvs), to the far fetched stories involving spies working from this tiny borough of Manchester. Of course, they're living here because they are undercover and are being investigated by such a suspicious individual who will investigate every area of their life with such accuracy that our hero needs to have a pretty unshakable back story and fake life. Have I gone into too much detail there? Crap! I won't share with you then the plots that play out in my head for the simply dressed, timid looking female who, in my head, may look shy but spends her weekends as the powerful and seductive Dom to the CEO of The Co-Operative Bank plc. She may be timid in the wee small hours of the morning before the sun has risen but when she's in the penthouse suite in the centre of Manchester, there is no one who holds more power.
Today has been a wonderful day for me. Unplanned, remarkable events have taken place today and I've been walking around with such happiness, pride and excitement that I'm not going to lie, if today were a person I would have tugged on its collar until our mouths did meet and demanded heavy petting with only the raise of an eyebrow!
When walking home through the streets of Manchester tonight, my iPod shuffled its way to 'Silent Night' (no, I do not skip the Christmas songs. Yes, I do know it's only November. No, I don't care if you just rolled your eyes. Christmas songs fill me with joy, so suck it!), the gentle sound and classical rhythms cocktailed with the beautiful lights illuminating those familiar trees I have come to love, I could not keep the beam from my face. As each person walked toward me leaving this great city for their suburban homes, the fictional back stories for these magnificent people passing me by became less elaborate and more "rom com". For example, the couple that walked hand in hand were no longer any old happy couple but instead the couple that were going to enjoy a Christmas proposal. Involving fireworks, the sliding of that all important ring and the simple whisper of "What do you think?". I wish them every happiness. Fictionally.
Of course, the girl biting her lip and gazing over at the beyond dreamy guy one pace in front of her, who is looking quizzically into his feet are clearly both in separate and unhappy relationships but have, only moments before, given into their recent flirtation and shared their first kiss in the quietness of St Ann's Square. "Too Many Broken Hearts In The World" magically pops into my mind and I wonder if they will be brave enough to leap forward with their new found love.
People Watching reminds me of how important we all are to the ones that hold us dear and yet insignificant to the hundreds of faces we passed each and everyday. Nothing we do will cause the end of the world, so just relax and take a minute or two to look, really look, at those faces that pass you by. You never know when one might change your world.
Happy Diwali!
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