Spying on the Neighbors.

When I was in New Jersey last time I was embarrassed by a Dictaphone tape that had my 12 year old voice on it; I was singing "Livin' on a Prayer" and some songs that I made up.

Other tapes (perhaps from earlier than that date, since those songs were from when I had a broken leg) had my high pitched voice whispering about what the neighbors. I'd crawl through the rhododendrons and report what they were doing as if I worked for the CIA and they were KGB agents. You could hear crinkled leaves and branches as I slithered through the underbrush; occasionally, I'd say, "Oh, I think they see me. Over and out." Okay. So not my coolest moment.

While I'm not proud of it, this trait has followed me throughout my life. I had a close friend who also enjoyed people watching and eavesdropping. We'd sit on park benches and make up stories about people. We'd go out to dinner and find ourselves distracted from each other by some drama going on at another table. Endless fun.


......
Now, as I'm looking at a substantial grant application, I'm distracting myself once again by looking around the room and "spying" on the coffee shop patrons. Not quite crawling around the room and listening to conversations, but still observing.

Here's a snapshot:

Perhaps filling out a job application, a woman who is sitting in the sun flips through an old fashioned Roladex full of little cards that have addresses from handwritten notes or business cards.

Others eat lunch-- two handed sandwich holding and one handed sweet potato fry tasting. Others sit huddled in front of computers or leaning back ankle-to-knee-leg-crossed while talking on cell phones.

One man in front of me is copying a handwritten document onto a fresh sheet. He has a sticker on a tennis racket bag that says, "No Fear. No War. Know Love. Know Peace." I've seen similar Jesus stickers... A woman next to me is holding a baby which is the size of a large watermelon.

The sun is streaming and passing shadows of plants and joggers into the room.

I've had too much caffeine and am listening to the Turing Machine on my headphones. Calendar open in front of me. Electronic files open on my screen. Back to executive summaries, goals and objectives. Over and out.