It was a long twelve hours of work at the recent Oracle Convention in San Francisco. During the lulls, my people watching hobby kept me from bouts of boredom. Yesterday's subject involved a man and his muffin.
I surmised he was an executive just in from Florida the night before. He dressed as if we have heat here, which we did anyway. Never mind that it's the "Indian Summer" of the SF Bay Area, visitors that walk about like they don't own a sweater stand out. He stood out, but not because of his lack of clothes. He carried a huge muffin. From clear across the lobby, I watched him walk quickly, probably late for his first Keynote Session. These conventions mess up his eating habits, and all he had time for was that sugary piece of cake in a wrapper. His left hand clutched an Oracle convention bag and swung in fast rhythm with his steps. His right hand was feeding his face. Suddenly, a huge chunk of muffin fell to the carpeted lobby floor, but Mr. Florida just kept walking as if dropping food is normal. I watched him closely as he took another indifferent bite of his radically smaller breakfast and disappeared behind the Information Kiosk.
Over the next hour, I observed the grand-sized muffin chunk get kicked and squished. Nobody seemed to be concerned about it. Nobody cared that it got on their shoes. In fact, it just kept traveling across the floor. I had too much time to speculate, and speculate I did. As the muffin chunk broke into smaller pieces and slowly distribute into a crumbly brown sunburst pattern, I began to think about Mr. Florida again.
Did he not wonder where half his muffin went when he took the next bite? My curiosity over this mundane and rather pointless incident makes me question my sanity now, but at the time it was most engaging.
Mr. Florida, with the convention bag, short-sleeved dress shirt, and broken muffin, was long gone before it dawned on me – he knew he dropped it! He just pretended to not notice. After all, what he didn't see, didn't happen.
What have YOU pretended not to see? When did you turn a blind eye to something and just walk on as if nothing happened? I'd love to hear your stories.
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Comments: 19
People are always in such a hurry.
I must say I am probably guilty of a crumb or two and or walking past or around something other then picking it up.
But for the most part I pick up things dropped by others in their hussle and bussle of life...
Good read
But when I see people kissing in public I admit to checking it out a bit!
I am guilty.
Thank you for this thought provoking and insightful invitation. I enjoyed reading about your observations. I can imagine that poor muffin's plight and the travels beyond its baking.
Imagine a scene in a movie intended to show accelerated time with the muffin's disitegration underfoot as the focus.
Ain't people watching fun?
Once my son and I were sitting on the porch and noticed a small flicker of light coming from the tree in front of our house. There was no reason for this flicker and so after several minutes we concluded it was a reflection on a wet leaf. About 3:00 a.m. after awakening on our couch, there was a loud explosion and the brightest light I had ever seen. I mused that it was the return of Christ. ;-) However, it was a power line. The small flicker we saw earlier was a clue that the power line had problems. We ignored it and so it paid us back by exploding and burning a 3 foot trench along our front yard. It is not good to walk by things!