People watching is undeniably one form of recreation requiring little to no effort on the participants. It could practically be a sporting event. As a an observer of humans, I find it quite interesting how what is done is in so much opposition to what we say and do. For instance, a woman was walking along the sidewalk with a dog in her arms and a child on the leash. I wondered what she would do if the child walked on an ant pile, would she pick the child up, put the dog down, or hold the dog while screaming for someone to help the child.
Obesity is a huge problem, no pun intended, so why are there very few sidewalks that lead to the doors of businesses? Where are bicycle racks, and why are there no bike trails adjacent to parking lots? When was the last time anyone received an insurance rebate or discount for walking? Even in the produce department, I am puzzled by the amount of cakes, caramel spreads, chocolate dips, and other fattening enticements used to encourage purchasing healthy foods, but making them unhealthy. I understand the goal of the grocery store, like any business, is to make money, but should our gastrointestinal lust be taken advantage of in such a public manner?
I passed what appeared to be a homeless man talking on a cell phone. As I was watching, and listening to what was a loud endless conversation, I noticed the gentleman was not stopping the conversation to pause, ask questions, or wait before responding. Obviously no one was on the other end of this phone. Did the voices call him or did he place the call. Mental illness isn’t as sublime as we may like to believe it is.
As immigrant children are packed into buses and exported out of one state and imported into other states, I wonder what they see from the bus windows when they look out at the Americans, some who may look like them, but are holding up signs screaming for them to leave. Americans like to say we are a nation of God fearing, compassionate, people loving, open-minded citizens, but where were those people the day the buses rolled out of Texas and into California? I was reminded of a time when children walked to school in Little Rock, Arkansas while adults screamed and yelled at them to go away. In what was once considered a home of the brave, it appears that the bravest souls are those who enter with the hope of a possible future, not the ones who fear their presence. Propaganda through media coverage among fearful individuals who need to belong to a cause or group is insidious. It feeds on their fears and anxieties and paranoias.
What I have learned about society from watching people, is they never really change.