People Watchingmature

It's raining, I sit at my dining room window and watch the cars go by. It's cold, a little unusual for California and just that fact makes it fascinating to me. I hold my cup of coffee in my hands, watching the steam rise.

The rain isn't so hard now and I see a young mother and her two children, she has on boots, there is an umbrella tucked under her arm, I know why, she has quite a handful with the two little ones. They are waiting on someone.

I see her face and, I remember looking like that when I was a young mother, frustrated, annoyed. Her hair hanging down her back, clung to her shoulders under the rain hat. One little guy was clinging to her leg, while the other jumped with all the gusto he could muster into every puddle he saw. I heard her call him several times, each time he would say "yes mommie" and promptly jump into the next puddle. Both children had on yellow rain slickers and golashes, something I haven't seen in years. It takes me back to another time.

I watch as they stand there under the tree down the street, she pries the one child from her legs and picks him up, she reaches out with the other hand and snatches the other little one by the back of his slicker. He screeches a little and poked out his lips. Finally, a black car stopped and picked them up. I smiled..

People Come and Go

I pull up my insulated bib overalls, and secure the straps over my shoulders. It's cold today, twenty two degrees. I pull my boots up over my wool socks, then don my hoodie. The last thing I do is put on my coat and baseball cap.

It's a short drive over to the building site. This building site is unusual, here we are building a replica of a fort that stood on this ground in 1836. I'm a volunteer, as are all the people that work here. There are about 6 of us that are regulars, but other people come and go, sometimes working here as long as a month, or as little as a half a day. We are thankful for any and all help we get.

Today, I'm the first to arrive. I push aside the canvas door of the large storage area and enter. I've brought a gallon of water for coffee, because we have no drinking water at the site, but before I make coffee, I build a fire in the antique drum that has been converted to a stove. Once the fire has taken hold I make coffee.

Over the next forty five minutes six other volunteers arrive. Big John Iverson, the unpaid boss, arrives with a dozen donuts, and a ready smile. We all talk about what's to be done that day, and who will be doing what, as we have coffee and donuts. Then we go to work. We only work two days a week, Wed, and Sat, so we won't be done any time soon, but it's enjoyable work and great camaraderie.

People Watching

God Was Crying

I hated catching the bus, they were never on time. It would be two weeks before my car was fixed, stupid insurance didn't cover rentals and after paying my deductible, I didn't have the money to pay for a rental.

Blue line 75 was a scenic route, I had to admit that. Thank god since I was about to have anxiety issues. The further along the line we went, the more people disembarked, the more pleasant the ride became. I was headed downtown, to the eye doctor. I watched the people get on and off, I wondered about some of them, some looked hurried and impatient, others had that {I'd rather be anywhere but here} look.

One young man in particular caught my attention, I don't know why, he was about 20 to I would say, no older than 26. He sat quietly reading a book.. I couldn't see the title but it appeared to be a textbook.. Probably going to the college. I glanced away for a minute. When I turned back, he was looking at me. He raised his hand and waved slightly, I smiled.

I moved across the isle and sat next to him. I asked if he was going to the college.. He said yes, he was registering for his first semester.. I found out he was only 17, that he had graduated early and was the first one in his family to ever go to college.

We rode along and talked about his dreams and aspirations, all too soon the ride ended. I gave him a big hug, wished him all the luck in the world and stepped off the bus.

I walked into the Dr.s' office with a smile on my face.

The weather never failed to amaze me, it was raining, yesterday, it had been sunny, beautiful, not one cloud in the sky.. I kind of laughed to myself, hmmm maybe god was crying.

I turned on the television, there was a story about a shooting, gee what a surprise but, it was a surprise, the shooting was on the Blue Line 75 yesterday at 10am, a half hour after I'd gotten off.. A young man had been killed..

Jeremy Hastings.. so, that had been his name, I hadn't remembered to ask..
It rained today, all day, God was crying..

A Day at the Park

There were quite a few dogs in the park today and quite a few adults. I looked around at the swings and sandbox, maybe two or three children. One took off his shoe and poured sand in his hair. I laughed, I remember those days. The two little girls played on the slide. They would slide and the mom would shout to pull their dresses down.

Down the little hill there was an elderly couple, the lady had a brown bag and judging by all the birds around her I'd say it was full of crumbs. The man just sat and stared across the park, she would ask him something every now and then, I could see his lips move but, he never turned his head.. men lol..

I looked back over at the sandbox, a man was standing next to the little boy. I just sat and watched for a few minutes.. What caught my attention was the fact that, the little boy didn't seem like he wanted to go with the man. The man held out his hand but the child wouldn't take it. The man glanced around nervously, oh senses went on the alert, parents didn't do that, parents took their childrens hands and that was it.

I got to my feet slowly and walked towards the man and the child. The little boys' eyes were huge and scared. This was not normal. I walked up to him and stretched out my hand, he grabbed it. I turned and looked at the man, making a mental note of his face, he smiled, turned and jogged away.

I found out that the childs name was Christopher and that his mother had left with the same man that had tried to take him. Social services contacted his father, I stayed with him until his father came. The police questioned me, I gave them the mans description. A missing persons bulletin went out for the woman.

Christophers' mom was never found. However, the man was, he was a pedophile. I went to the park that day because I love to people watch, I don't concentrate on what might have happened if I hadn't been there.

I hear from Christopher almost every day. We get together and play games, I go to his school functions. He calls me his Watcher.. (smile)

People Watching prt 2

This is not quite people watching, this is more like Jinn thinking. In 1995, I became disabled, Cardiomyopathy ( diseased heart muscle). I'd been sick that year, with a viral pneumonia.. I was working so hard, I took the usual, cold meds and cough syrups, you know..

After waking with the feeling of water in my chest, I went to the emergency room. Now you'de think I would take off from work, I did that day but, immediately went back. Anyway, the end result was a damaged left ventricle.

My condition had been treated with medication, lots of medication. However in November of 2005, I had to go back into the hospital, my heart was beating yes, but not in sync, not in the proper rhythm. And I have to say, I was tired, out of breath, sick all the time.

I arrived at Loma Linda with CHF (congestive heart failure), during my stay, it was decided I should have a defibrillator implanted.

Two of my daughters are nurses, we were discussing the operation, I was asking questions, many questions, cause I am the biggest baby when it comes to hospitals.

My daughters were explaining it to me and I was reading the information booklet.. I came to one part and I read it I guess... three or four times, still it didn't sink in.. In short what it said was, "Your partner would get a tingle also if you were being intimate and received a shock."

I asked my daughter what were they talking about.. Now, I have to say these are the same people that laughed at my adventure on the Patio with the spider, so what did I expect?

Well, I was surprised, no shocked to learn that if I received a shock from the pacer, I would feel it.. Don't ask, I don't really know what I thought. But, it was described to me as a KICK IN THE CHEST..

Good lord, so far so good, no kicks, I intend to keep it that way.. so off to have the pacer checked.

People Watching 3

Today I saw her. I had to look closely because I wasn't quite sure but, yes it was her. She shuffled around the little doughnut shop. Her hair was gray, long and knotted. She twisted her fingers around the change she held.

I didn't speak to her, I just watched. She stared at the display case, entertwining her fingers in her hair, tilting her head to the side as if this, was the greatest of all her decisions.

I fought with myself, should I go over and say something or, would it be better if I just remained silent, left her in her cold, heartless world
of anonymity? I didn't know what to do.

How did this happen, what drove a person away from their family and, a promising future.. She had been voted most likely to do anything she wanted to, when did it change, where did it start to go wrong?

She picked out a "twister" and a cup of cocoa. The young boy behind the counter told her, she didn't have enough money. She stared at the two items then, decided on heat over removing pain.
She took the cup in both hands and I realized she still wore her class ring.

I walked to the counter, asked for three "twisters" and one ham and cheese "croissant". I slipped twenty dollars in the bag with the pastries and handed it all over to her.

She turned towards me, I thought to thank me but, she threw the bag in my face and told me she didn't need a f---g handout from some uppity b---....

And I recognized, she wasn't mentally ill, she wasn't ill at all, she wasn't a wretch of this cold world, bad times hadn't befallen her, she was still the proud, thankless, nasty rude b--- she had been in high school.. only difference, now she was a bag lady.