People watching

Do you ever watch people and wonder what their story is? Wonder if they have a Mom or Dad, a husband, children, anyone at all, if they are happy with their life, angry at the world, what trials they've experienced, or what today brings for them? I sure do and thoroughly enjoy it.

I love the airport. No, I wouldn't choose to be dealing with the airport for more than 24 hours to get to a family reunion, but I love people watching and feel like I could sit here all day asking myself these questions about people that pass me by.

Last night while we waited more than 3 hours on the runway to take off, later being brought back to the gate because they cancelled the flight, I observed the man next to me. I told my aunt and husband he was a creep, but maybe all of his weird actions had good reason. Maybe he went to the bathroom 10 times, 30 seconds at a time, to let out gas so I didn't have to smell it. Or maybe he was going through a hard time and needed to let out a little cry here and there. Maybe he had a bladder infection, or a runny nose. Maybe he dropped his phone on the ground over and over again to keep himself entertained, and not to look up my skirt. Maybe he really has a hard time holding on to things. Maybe he was really just wanting to be helpful when he offered to put my bag in the overhead bin like 5 times, and I still said "no thanks".

Then there was the girl who burst into tears when finding out the flight was cancelled. I wanted to hug her. I don't know if she is just sensitive, if she was trying to say goodbye to someone before they passed away and now wasn't going to make it, or if she wanted to see her daughter play soccer, and does she even have a daughter or family to lose? Regardless, I felt bad, wanted to know her story, and wished there was something I could do.

Then after my journey home to sleep in my bed for 3 hours, I returned to the airport at 5 this morning to find out my flight was delayed 2 hours. Luckily I was able to watch and ponder the jewish man praying and reading his bible. It was the most incredible thing. He pulled out his "boxes and ropes" (I'm going to research what they are really called), tied them to his head and arms, put his shawl over his head, stood up, turned around, sat back down, all while touching the box on his head, then his chest, or something like that. Since moving to New York and doing some research, I've gained such an admiration for the Jews and how faithful they are. It's truly amazing.

Or Peggy Abdul being paged in the airport over and over because she is going to miss her flight. Is she related to Paula Abdul? Maybe they are sisters and they are out for lunch. Maybe she was having too much fun on the strip here in Vegas to leave. I'll just assume good reasons.

Or what I like to call "Ninja Turtle man" here in front of me. He is covered in Ninja Turtle tattoos. I'm so curious what the story and motivation behind wanting to permanently tattoo his body in ninja turtles was. I do love ninja turtles myself, but I can't say I love them enough to cover my body in them. Maybe they inspired him so much that they completely changed his life and he wanted that as a constant reminder on his legs and arms. Maybe he was drunk one night and his buddies dared him.

Then my least favorite being the beautiful brat sitting next to me on my last flight. Someone made a stink, she made a big fuss about how stinky it was asking who "freaking farted". Then after landing, she called her mom and proceeded to greet her with "What the hell is wrong with you. Are you freaking retarded. Are you an idiot? Do you not know how to comprehend things? Why didn't you call all of my friends and their parents before paying for a shuttle for me?!" I wanted to smack her.

People watching is so great. And I believe airports are the greatest place to do so. The whole world comes together here, and entertains me so well. The 50's music isn't so bad either. :) Thanks people, for letting me people watch you.

On a side note, this article is beautifully written. Our world has a serious misconception of how girls and women should be and we need to help steer away from this!