My head slowly starts to bop to the music, my fingers begin to tap in rhythm of bongo drums and I fancy myself in some warm sunny place with lots of sand and sun. The crunch of the espresso bean between my teeth wakes me up to reality, and I remember that I'm sitting in a coffee house in the middle of winter, feeling just slightly too warm for the three layers I have on.My husband, Jared, has had classes for two days in Cleveland, looking at it as a mini vacation I immediately said “Yes” to his asking if I'd coming along. However, after spending the first day staring out the windows, drinking cardboard roasted hotel coffee, and spilling more tears than I thought possible watching all the TCM specials with Cary Grant -I decided to brave the intimidating city life for some fresh air. Besides the fact that I had no other choice since check out was at 11 a.m. Walking around the block once was enough fresh air, I was beginning to feel like soon someone was going to start following me- thanks to Alfred Hitchcock deepening my already over reactive imagination. The valets standing outside a ritzy hotel were sure to be fakes, and their smiles were so not legit. I detoured so as not to pass them again, and slipped into the haven of Erie Island Coffee Co. Since I've worked as a coffee barista for almost four years, this place was the closest thing to home and it even had ERIE in it's name. I felt a little like Audrey Hepburn did about Tiffany's, nothing bad could possible happen to anybody here. Still not wanting to look out of place, I ordered quickly, acting like this is what I do everyday. I set up my laptop plug it in, dabble around on the desktop pretending to look for the “super important file” that I’m supposed to get in by such and such a time. Looks like I'm gonna be here all day working on it, that is until Jared gets out of class and saves me from my charade of looking aristocratically important. Just to make it look even more believe-able I pull out my super nerd RayBan glasses and put them on...not for too long though, with contacts in I wouldn't want to spoil the effect by falling off my chair with self induced vertigo. So here I am, sitting, drinking my latte, and listening to coffee house music- which is always a genre of it's own- the same songs played somewhere else never sound like the same song. People watching is pretty good from where I'm sitting, right in the front window- sideways- so I don't have to turn my head to watch ( with my amazing peripheral vision ) plus the reflection of all the angles of the windows allows for extended views of people coming and going. Now before I start to sound creepier than I really am, let me say this, people watching is my profession, a very ill paid one for sure, but that is why I work at a coffee house- so I can people watch and get paid for it. Watching people is a form of art I believe, which is probably why I like Norman Rockwell paintings more than Van Gogh's. You see, Rockwell's paintings you can look at and know exactly what he is portraying, it's life, painted with all the details that make life interesting and fun. He emphasizes the things in life that people remember, and therefore, they hit you in your core because you can relate to almost any of his paintings, for you've been in them yourself. Watching people is for me, kinda like watching a Norman Rockwell painting in motion, making a dull and boring day somewhat exciting and new. Ordinary people become more interesting, their smiles more defined, and their mannerisms more exaggerated. Knowing how to see people as they are yet catching onto their individual personalities can be a great way to get to know people. So many times I have misjudged a person by the way they smile or look at me. It's easy to think the the frowning elderly man is an ogre, and thus all the stories of the dreaded “ old man next door” that will eat you alive if your cat climbs up his tree- begin. Then one day as he's taking his daily stroll down the road, whacking at rolling pop cans with his knotted wood cane, and muttering to himself, he stops before you and says, “ Hey, kid how's it goin'?” Starring speechless at first you awkwardly answer,“ Fine Mr. Smith, how are you?” “ Above ground!” He says, and walks away laughing at the morbid joke that he just made about himself. Suddenly the scary old man next store isn't as scary, he's just a lonely old man with a very dry sense of humor- and what's more is he has his own cat, it's just as old as he is and doesn't climb trees anymore. How does this make getting to know people any easier, you may ask? A.K.A. Is the answer to that question, Also known as, ASK, Know, and Apply, by Asking someone about themselves, and listening with genuine interest, you will Know better how to Apply yourself to establish healthier relationships. *****Blip of changing the current subject**** Big fan of watching people by Ella Fitzgerald, even the snowflakes seem to be floating to the crescendos of her voice, ah, winter isn't so bad*** So, back to the moral of this story, don't just assume that the people you see everyday are the same people you see everyday. If you look close enough, I bet you can find something new about them and make that relationship even better- or worse depending on your motive. So go ahead and try it out, pick someone you know (or think you know really well) and find something new out about them, I bet you'll be surprised at how much better you can get to know them. Now wasn't that enlightening?
