Life of Pride

Wednesday, February 15, 2006

I am inspired by the randomness of posts that Brooks has been making lately to his blog. In a similar fashion, I am going to list some random people observations I have made this evening, in no particular order.

A mom, daughter around age 12, toddler, and baby all crossed a pedestrian walkway in front of me this morning. The 12-year-old was carrying the baby quite competently. My first thought was, "Homeschoolers!" because of the responsibility given to a 12-year-old. Then I remembered that these kids were not in school during school hours, and that just about confirmed it. I watched them for a few seconds longer than I needed to before I drove away. What would it be like to teach my own kids someday?

The lady with the wizened face behind the counter at the Post Office remembered me and knew the number of our mailbox. I didn't know her. Has she been working there since I was six years old and came in hand-in-hand with my dad, begging him to buy me pretty stamps? What will I think years from now when I see grownups who used to be kids I knew?

The girl with the short black hair at the Borders cafe remembered the sort of cup I like for my tea. She has a nice smile. I think I like her. I wish I could make friends with her.

There was a creepy guy in Borders. I glanced over the whole cafe as I walked in, and I caught his eye. He had a peculiar stare. While I was ordering my tea, he got up and was walking up and down behind me for no particular reason. Then he seemed to leave. When I sat down at a table next to the side window of the cafe, I noticed that he walked up by the side of the building on the outside and peered in at me. I glared at him, and he gave an odd smile and turned around quickly. There is absolutely nothing at the side of the building for him to be doing. Then he came back in one more time, leering at two girls in tank tops at another table on the way past. Finally, he left for good.

At the gym, a male personal trainer was loudly giving advice to another guy. He said, "For abs, don't go for numbers. Just work 'em until it hurts like heck!" This is wrong. If you do your reps very carefully, exhaling hard each time, you can finish them off in 12 reps or less. Otherwise, you'll be crunching forever. I had to stretch in the same corner. He got even louder when I walked by. I pretended I didn't notice him at all.

Why do guys come and hang out by the free weights section to talk? Women who use free weights never talk to anyone. In fact, women don't seem to talk to each other much at the gym at all.

There were more women than usual in the free weights area this evening. I lifted heavier weights than all of them. Only one other woman was lifting for real, but she was tiny. I'm not. One very big woman was there, lifting tiny weights with much effort. I highly approved of her attempts, and I shot her what were meant to be looks of encouragement. I think she was scared, however, because she did maybe two sets and then left. That was too bad.

I asked a strong-looking, square-jawed man if anyone was using a particular weights bench. He immediately insisted on moving all the benches around for my personal comfort. :P He was extremely personable, and he made me smile. But I didn't trust him. I never trust gym guys. He was very personable, though. And he was watching me later. Why? I was just wearing a t-shirt and loose exercise pants, with my hair in a ponytail, and I had on glasses. I pretended I didn't see him.

I walked into the house very hungry, and I ate some dinner. My two youngest sisters were in the living room. Maddy was working on a French test. I wondered out loud what I would do with the next hour. I decided I would go down to my cave. Lillie, on the other couch, was watching me with a loving look. She gave me a pretty smile as I headed downstairs, one older than her 12-year-old face. I saw from her smile that she wanted me to read to her and Maddy the same way I had the night before. But she knew that it couldn't happen, because of Maddy's test, and she was ready to wait. All that was in her smile. Don't ask me how. It was.

¶ 6:14 PM

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