People watching

Being that I am a receptionist in a medical office, I get to observe a lot of people. Being that I am a communications major, I tend to enjoy analyzing people's interactions - verbal and nonverbal signals, topics of discussion, societally constructed norms of politeness, etc. Today two friends came in, both young women about my age. At some point while waiting, they got in a disagreement. Body language changed; they sat upright, faced forward, tense. Muttering out the sides of their mouths in hushed short sentences. Finally one stood up and moved across the waiting room. The rest of the time they were in the office was spent ignoring each other, magazines held high in front of their faces, each glued to a chair on opposite sides of the office. They even exited out two opposite doors, which interested me as it is likely they arrived in the same vehicle. I wondered how the rest of the car ride home played out.

Sometimes people interacting just makes me smile. For example, I love it when old men carry their wives purses. I don't know at what point in a man's lifetime they begin to look after the purse as though it were their own, but somehow over the course of many married years all older gentlemen seem to assume this responsiblity. Not only do they watch the purse, they carry the purse all around and slung over their left shoulder, as though this action were as natural to them as standing to urinate. Most men I know complain profusely if I ask them to hold my purse even for a moment while I put my jacket on. With a pained look they hold the thing sideways between thumb and forefinger, arm extended away from their body as if I had just asked them to hold a baggie full of doggie poo. They must make clear to all potential witnesses that they do not enjoy this purse holding task. But one day, when they have been married for decades and they no longer feel the need to appear cool, they will hold the purse. They will in fact, guard the purse under their left armpit while holding open the door for other men.

Another phenomenon is the way people use the button which automatically opens the door for the handicapped. Unfortunately the button seems to be invisible to the handicapped and the elderly; and to everyone who needs to use it. Little old people NEVER see the button. They hobble forward precariously on walkers, crutches and in wheelchairs sporting oxygen tanks and canes. They struggle with all their might to open the door without falling over or dropping the armload of stuff they carry. By the time they get the heavy door open wide enough, they barely have time to squeeze through before the weight of it becomes too much and ends up slamming into them as they try to escape into the lobby. The button is not invisible to the under twenty set however, who work that thing like like it's a television remote control. Fifteen year olds who are strong and perfectly capable of opening a door see the button, push it, then stand back like lazy slugs waiting for it to fully open. Then they saunter through, the door continues to hang open while drafts of cold december air blow into the waiting room. Soon they realize they forgot something in the car, they run to the door "be right back!" pause. Hit the button. Wait for it to open the door. Run run run out to the parking lot. Run full speed back to the entrance. Hit the button. Wait. Run in. Breathless. The door begins to close and slams into an old lady with a cane... so it goes.

I have seen some pretty interesting things this week. A man drunk to the point of stumbling at 9 a.m. who sat on the floor and then tore up his medical coupon because he didn't want us to make a copy for billing. A 73-year-old woman who wanted to tell me her medical history in detail, from birth so that I could better understand the sufferings of her life. She was in for a finger x-ray. A guy who requested I help fasten his suspenders. And some really cute little children who made a fort - it was a pretty good one too.