This week I'd like to focus in on description.
It's important to pay attention to your surroundings because life moves fast
and we may miss it! One of my favorite activities is people watching. I do
it everywhere I go. My favorite place is an airport or a coffee shop when I can
sit back and watch unobtrusively. But if you get into the habit of "paying
attention" any public place is up for grabs. A high school is a great
place for watching teenagers, but what if your characters aren't teenagers? Then
what? This week I would like you to start noticing the people
around you. Libraries, coffee shops, malls, sporting events, fast food restaurants, parks, and grocery
stores all make for good character building experiences. Get into the habit of
carrying a small notebook with you at all times. Jot down fascinating
conversations you overhear, wild and crazy outfits you see, unusual habits
people have, and anything else that you find to be different.
For this week's post, I'd like each of you to describe some of your "eccentric" findings.
For this week's post, I'd like each of you to describe some of your "eccentric" findings.
Some of my own
observations from the week include:
“’Tell me a happy story’ she said. So I did. And then she cried.” Overheard on Shrewsbury St. in Worcester between two dark haired boys.
“Latest update......I punched 400 holes into what can only be described as cardboard covered steel disguised as paper...seriously, you all better like those save the date invitations..” and the other guy replied “You are such a *%&$%^” Overheard while sitting in a Starbucks.
"Can you believe she was SO drunk that she fell into that? Conversation between two girls while walking down the hall at Algonquin.
She had on metallic gold, leopard printed pants and a red halter top. Must have been 45 or 50, big blonde hair, heavy eyeliner. Couldn't walk a straight line to the bathroom. The bartender cut her off and she let out a strong of expletives.
Have fun with this!!!
“’Tell me a happy story’ she said. So I did. And then she cried.” Overheard on Shrewsbury St. in Worcester between two dark haired boys.
“Latest update......I punched 400 holes into what can only be described as cardboard covered steel disguised as paper...seriously, you all better like those save the date invitations..” and the other guy replied “You are such a *%&$%^” Overheard while sitting in a Starbucks.
"Can you believe she was SO drunk that she fell into that? Conversation between two girls while walking down the hall at Algonquin.
She had on metallic gold, leopard printed pants and a red halter top. Must have been 45 or 50, big blonde hair, heavy eyeliner. Couldn't walk a straight line to the bathroom. The bartender cut her off and she let out a strong of expletives.
Have fun with this!!!
I was at work at Qdoba, when a group of guys walked in, smelling like a skunk's butt, and looking like they had just gotten out of bed. They were all wearing baggy sweatshirts, and dirty jeans. They must have coordinated it. I just knew they were stoned out of their mind. They walk up to the front where I greet them, acting like I don't know what's going on, and the first person speaks, "Can I have a burrito, man?" I had to keep a straight face, but he spoke so slowly, and was completely slouched, I started to think how long it must have taken them to drive here if they were that slow. Do they realize how bad they smell, or do they just not care?
ReplyDeleteThis past weekend I had soccer scrimmages at my home field in Lancaster. It was absolutely freezing outside and everyone looked so displeased to be there. There were scowls on everyone's faces underneath all of their layers. After watching as people took off their big puffy coats when we were about to play, i noticed the means and groans and the comments of everyone around me. Everyone's faces were twisted up and their body language was tense and angry. The conversation between people that I barely knew showed be me a lot about their personalities. We were all out there freezing just the same, yet it was very noticeable that some people were complaining more than others. Like the whole game. Making comments as if they were the only ones out there freezing their butt off when we all were! "I could be at home sleeping this is bull sh*t". In my head i was getting very annoyed as that was true for everyone else as well but I just tried to ignore all the hasty comments as best as i could
ReplyDeleteI was at panera one day and this girl and her boyfriend i guess we're sitting at the table next to us and out of nowhere the girl jumps up and starts screaming at him about how his mom doesn't like her and he just got up and walked out.
ReplyDeleteMy friend Dan and I were chatting obnoxiously loud when a man in a slick black suit wearing one of those bluetooth microphones businessmen use managed even to talk louder than us. Finally I started to put Dan on mute and overheard this man talking on the phone how he has this Dave Matthew's guitar that he wants to get rid of. Instantly I got up and said I would take it, but then he sadly countered 1,800 dollars for it and there is no proof it's a Dave Matthews guitar, but he's positive it is. Scam artist anyone?
ReplyDeleteScam city
DeleteCurious eyes scanned the room. The monotonous voice of the coach continued. The kids around me couldn't keep still, and all they had for padding was a helmet, and gloves. The coach continued to explain drills, as empty eyes looked on nodding their heads. The shuffling kids walked through the drills and learned the simple concepts. The meeting ended, but the kids staid around to play basketball. sweat dripped from their faces as the competitive 3v3 game neared its end. It was too late to continue, the exhausted kids shuffled out of their building and went home.
ReplyDeleteI was working in this class on my descriptive essay when I over heard 2 class mates discussing which picture they wanted to do. The first class mate held a picture of a stampede of zebras up to the other student and exclaimed, I wish I was a zebra, grazing in fields and running around and whatnot.
ReplyDeleteI was standing in the track locker room looking at the results from a past meet, and a junior next to me says, without realizing I'm right next to him, "No way Hayes ran a 7.5 55 meter, he's not that fast".... cool
ReplyDeleteThis past week I sat back and truly listened to conversations around the cafeteria. My friends always talk about sports, some they play others they don't. But as I looked around the cafeteria I see all the different types of people. Some tables gossip about people, some talk about the difficulty of their test last period, and others talk about politics. One day I heard a group of girls talking about President Trump and one of them said that they don't understand how he has not been assassinated yet. One said, "If I lived in D.C he would be dead." Very interesting to see where people will go in conversations to prove their point, in this case to prove their hatred for a man.
ReplyDeleteI was at the gym and often times a lot of people rarely talk because they are doing their own thing, but there were these two girls that were talking loud enough for the whole gym to here their conversation. "I consider myself very unathletic, I am so uncoordinated and was never successful in any sport I ever!" I learned a lot from there conversation in terms of sports and activities about their childhood that I never would have. Although I didn't care much for it, it is interesting to think back about it.
ReplyDeleteI was sitting in chic-fil-a with my friends enjoying some classic chicken sandwiches. We sat right next to the indoor playground for little kids and I could't help but look at all the screaming children jumping all over the place causing mayhem. I knew that the woman we sat across from was one of the mothers because I overheard her say to her friend, "God, I am so tired, Jenny is driving me crazy with her endless amount of energy. I need some sleep. And a vacation." Woman looked pretty tired
ReplyDeleteAs I was driving down my street I saw a man standing in the center of the road walking slowly, with his back towards me. When I finally got close enough, I thought he would hear my car behind him and move to one side of the road to let me pass, but he didn't. He just stopped. It was sort of strange because he didn't even turn around, he just stood there. I had to slow down so much that I felt like my car wasn't moving at all. Then, as I was passing him, he turned his head and looked straight at me with this big genuine smile. I usually am creeped out by these things, but he just seemed so happy that I didn't even mind the fact that I had to struggle to maneuver around him.
ReplyDeleteThat's so cute! I was really expecting this to be creepier, but I'm glad it wasn't.
DeleteDuring one of my shifts at work, I was out in the lobby cleaning tables. My manager went into the back because he said he was getting a call from his girlfriend. After a few minutes I finished cleaning the tables and walked into the back. When I opened the door my manager's back was to me, and while he was still on the phone, he yelled "shut up you stupid b****". I didn't know what to do, and he didn't realize I was there, so I just went back into the lobby and pretended to clean tables for a while.
ReplyDeleteI went to Wegmans and sat in the eating area there for a while. Not really much happened. There were mostly just little kids and tired looking parents. The kids were watching this TV show that was playing- a dragon and what looked like a squirtle were talking to this giant snowman thing. They seemed to be really enjoying it, because only one of them was running around- the rest were just eating and watching.
ReplyDeleteI was at UNH yesterday for the jazz festival that the jazz bands and chorus are required to go to. The mornings there are pretty quiet, but at noon, the middle schoolers arrive, and the dining hall where we all sit becomes loud and chaotic. We were sitting, waiting for the next jazz band from our school to perform, and playing card games to pass the time. Another girl in the chorus and I happened to look over at one of the tables that a group of middle schoolers were sitting at as one of them lets out the loudest burp you've ever heard. No one else at our table seemed to hear it, but we looked at each other and couldn't stop laughing.
ReplyDeleteThese are all observations that I've collected during my time working at Papa Gino's.
ReplyDeleteI hand the man sitting alone his food, he mutters to himself as I walk away, “Do you think this looks good? Oh yeah, this looks like it will taste great, we can’t wait to eat it!”.
A girl, no older than twenty, comes in with puffy red eyes and thanks me profusively for giving her a free drink. She gives me a two dollar tip, we don’t have a tip jar.
Two little boys come in, they look like brothers. The older one can’t be more than 7. They pay for the food with a credit card and struggle to carry the boxes of pizza out of the store.
Two men in button down shirts come in with at least ten little boys. They let the boys run wild around the store while they sit and talk. When I bring their food over to them they call me sweetheart, and when I turn around I can feel their gaze following me.
Two older women, looking practically like stock picture grandmas, enter, filling the restaurant with the smell of marijuana.
The manager who is sixty and has worked at Burger King, Wendy’s, and McDonald’s, reads physics books whenever there’s a free minute.
During the weekends you will typically find me on that work grind at Sky Zone. When I first arrived at work earlier today, I went behind the front desk to go put my keys and phone away and grab my nametag and walkie. As I clutch my keys and lanyard, I overheard a boy who could not possibly be older than 13 blurt out to his friend, "Why does she need car keys, she's like... 5." Were they talking about me? Easily. I could tell by the crooked smirk on one of the boys faces as my eyes darted up to meet his. I could not contain my laughter as I saw this scrawny little 13 year old attempting to roast me. I walked away to go start working. Later in the shift I saw the same boys, and they walked up behind me, asking if they could play in the dodgebll game I was in charge of. Not thinking, I immediately responded with "Sorry, I would let you guys play, but you're like...5. You gotta go play in the little kids game." The look of pure shock as their freckled cheeks went completely white is one I will never forget. One of the boys starting emitting a series of stutters before mumbling "I-I-I'm sorry", and the other one looked as if he was about to soil himself. I cracked a smile and waved them in join the game, as I watched them both breathe sighs of relief. I love kids.
ReplyDeleteThis weekend, my friends from dance and I decided to plan a last minute trip to The Sugar Factory at Foxwoods in Connecticut. It's just under an hour and a half drive. Instead of the usual 7 of us, only 4 of us could go that night. Spending that time in the car with some of my closest friends was probably one of the best bonding experiences we could have. I learned so many things about these girls who I've known since my childhood. I realized that all it takes to get to know people is a long car ride with an exciting destination. As much as I thought I knew these girls, I think I learned more by focusing on enjoying my time with them. Who knew you could get even closer with your best friends by taking a car ride to a casino?
ReplyDeleteI was at camp and there was a woman there who had a baby. Most moms are very protective of their children, especially a baby. But this woman was a little different, more open to letting the little guy crawl around and meet people. This made me think why? Why isn't this woman following her young child all over the place, preventing him from getting into any troubling situations? I then remembered where I was, camp, a safe and peaceful place full of likeminded kind people. I looked around and saw that everyone in the room was looking after the baby, helping the busy mother. Camp is just that kind of place, full of kind souls.
ReplyDeleteThis weekend I went to out to dinner with a few friends at Eataly in Boston. It is an Italian market place with a restaurant in the middle. The tables in the restaurant are packed densely together so you can here everyone's conversations. Diagonally across from our table was a family with to young kids. I could see them out of my peripheral they seemed to having a nice time and the kids where well behaved. All of the sudden the Mom pulls out her phone and props it against the olive oil bottle. The kids eyes are glued to the show on the screen and don't interact with each other or their parents the rest of the meal.
ReplyDeleteThis weekend I went skiing in New Hampshire and there was a guy skiing in a gorilla suit by himself and it was very interesting.
ReplyDeleteI work at Old Navy, and most of the time I am working the regrister, and there is always interesting conversations that go on while I am scanning their clothes. This weekend, I paid more attention to the conversations that the customers were having with each other, or with the people that were talking to on the phone. Most of the conversations consisted of "Did you see the game last night?" or "Can you believe how much snow we are going to get on Tuesday?" This made me realize how much of our conversations that we have based off of events that are currently happening or just small talk conversations, and it fascinates me.
ReplyDeleteThis past weekend I spent a lot of time in a mall. Everyone seemed very busy walking through shops and restaurants with bags in their hands. While walking along with some people I heard some interesting conversations. Most that were around me and my friends tended to talk about all the high school students waking around in business clothes looking like adults. Lots of women and moms I could here picking or pick outfit is gurls we're wearing they lined they best "Oh she looks cute", "I love those shoes". This ammussed me sometimes to here how surprised people were.
ReplyDeleteWhile furniture shopping with my dad I was walking around looking and trying out new couches. A young girl pointed at my shoes and said "look mom she has those shoes that every single girl has" I was wearing my adidas superstars. I laughed when I heard that because it's true every girl has a pair, it's a common trend.
ReplyDeleteobservations of the week:
ReplyDelete"oh I had panera for dinner" person 2: "i had olive garden for dinner" person 3:"Ill probably just have a coffee cake when i get home" At 11pm on saturday night.
"I wish I was skinny so i could fit into this shit" women shopping at tj maxx
"Cause you're ugly as hell" "how do you even know hell is ugly" During my environmental science class between the teacher and student
I had a lacrosse tournament this weekend and it was freezing with a very chilly wind constantly coming through and nearly everyone, including my self was wearing sweatpants and a sweatshirt except for one kid who had shorts and a t-shirt on. An interesting move to potentially get hypothermia.
ReplyDeleteThis weekend I was getting breakfast at Dunkin' Donuts and I walked in to find a baby dressed in a suit. It was something I do not see every day and made me laugh seeing a baby in a suit. It made me wonder what the occasion was that these parents dressed their baby in a little suit.
ReplyDeleteThis past weekend, I was driving home from my friends house when I saw something very strange. It was twenty two degrees with a windchill of seventeen. As I was on the way home I saw a man running shirtless, this was a very interesting play on his part. Not quite sure what was going on through his head.
ReplyDeleteThese are great, thank you for sharing!
ReplyDeleteMs. Z.