The Wheels on the Bus..

The really interesting thing about living in the city is the people! There are people EVERYWHERE! You see people doing all sorts of things, too. For instance, since living here, I have seen multitudes of people walking their dogs (from silly little dogs wearing clothes to large scary dogs foaming at the mouth), riding their bikes, singing at the top of their lungs while walking down the sidewalk (really, do you think we want to hear you??!), dancing , cursing, talking on their phones, begging for money, moms pushing strollers, etc.

Have you ever noticed how interesting people are to watch? Today we took the bus downtown to go to the museum (yea for missing our bus stop and having to walk extra blocks!) and, as usual, there were lots of people on the bus. There seem to be some rules while riding a bus (this comes after observation from all of 4 or 5 bus rides:)
1. Do not make eye contact with anyone or if you must make it as brief as possible.
2. Absolutely no talking and breaking the thick silent bus atmosphere
3. Stare out the window or at the ground as if the dirty floor and passing traffic is fascinating. Or else bring a book. Then you have an excuse to practice rules #1 and 2.
4. Confidently act like you know where you're going/what you're doing at ALL times or else you scream "tourist!"

So I covertly, while practicing #2, tried not to make eye contact with anyone, yet enjoyed watching the many different people around me. There was one lady in particular that fascinated me. We had seen her walking to the bus stop just before us. Strong and confident were my first thoughts. She looked to be in her 70s with very pretty curly dyed hair. She was dressed simply yet practically and she carried a book bag. A Spiderman book bag. Really, I've never seen anyone over the age of 7 daring to wear Spiderman paraphernalia, let alone a grandma! She was reading a book about Ghengis Khan and eating a snack, after which she delicately emptied her crumbs on the floor, neatly folded up the plastic bag, tucking it in the front pocket of her superhero backpack. She looked "streetsmart" for lack of a better word. And I found myself curious about her and the others around me.

People are really interesting. There are so many things that shape who we are from our childhoods to our environment. I often wonder what prompts people to wear their hair a certain way (mullet was NEVER cool, people!) or dress in a certain style (80's again?), wonder what country they are from, their relationship to the people next to them, etc. What do people see when they see me sitting on the dirty bus with one child on my lap and one next to me, covertly eyeing the other passengers while my husband silently stares out the window (practicing #s 1 and 2)? What impressions do I give off? Do you ever wonder what people think of you when they are passing by?

The funny thing is that the boys do it, too. I think it's really natural for kids to be interesting by surrounding people. After all, there are a lot of "big" people in a 3 foot tall kid's world! The only difference is that I keep my opinions generally to myself, whereas Samuel has no bones about questioning why the lady sitting 2 feet from me at the dr's office has multi-colored fingernails or why a fellow customer in the store has dyed her hair florescent red or why that man is letting his belly hang out....Oh, the joy and innocence of children! I bet Samuel was thinking that Spiderman backpack was pretty cool....